Pretending to be Nice
by shyesplease
Summary: After being challenged to be nice to Derek for a week, Casey soon realizes that she doesn't have to pretend like she originally thought when Derek mysteriously starts being nice right back. DASEY! R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Casey stood, head buried inside her locker before homeroom. She was gathering the necessary materials for her first class. Noel was standing to her right, talking to her about an English project they got appointed to do together the day before. At the moment, they were trying to compromise on a time to meet up and start the assignment. On her left was Emily, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. She looked over at her best friend to find her dreamily gazing across the hallway.

Casey rolled her eyes, knowing the particular action only warranted the presence of a _certain_ other person who she had the displeasure of seeing _every day_. Humoring herself, Casey glanced over her shoulder to indeed see Derek in sight. He was leaning against his locker, chatting up with various people of his 'posse'.

Turning back to her locker, Casey resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. Her step-brother was obnoxious and messy and irresponsible. She didn't understand why people thought he was 'cool' or why Emily – and seemingly the rest of the female population at their high school – drooled over him.

"Ooh, _Casey!_ He looked this way!" Emily excitedly expressed, swatting her hand in Casey's direction to gain her attention, but only managed to knock all of Casey's books out of her hands.

Casey closed her eyes in mild frustration before she bent down to retrieve the aforementioned books. As she stood back up, just like that, she could feel his presence behind her.

"Looks like Klutzilla is in the building."

Casey grinded her teeth. She was internally fighting over whether to slap away the smirk she knew was on his face or ignore him. Both sounded so appealing, though she hated giving him the satisfaction of riling her up. She began to count to 10 in her head to placate herself – a Paul technique.

"Is your own tongue falling over itself to the point you can't talk either?" he questioned knowingly.

"Shut _up_, Derek!" she screeched, turning around to face him. His lips were lifted solely to the right side in his signature smirk. "I am fully capable of talking! Maybe I just don't want to talk to you!"

She then realized her mistake. She succumbed to his teasing, again, like a damn fish to his hook. For reasons beyond her, Casey couldn't fathom how he could entice a response out her so easily.

Derek mockingly put a hand to his heart, as if her words had wounded him. "_Ouch_! That hurt, Princess."

Casey stared at him pointedly, huffing. "If you're only here to make fun of me, Derek, then I suggest you find something better to do and leave me alone!"

She went to turn her head defiantly away from Derek when she noticed that Noel was still there, off to the side. He gave her a sheepish smile when she made eye-contact with him. She smiled back, guilty for unintentionally positioning him in the middle of one her and Derek's quarrels. He preceded then to hand her a notebook of hers that must have fallen earlier. She mouthed a 'thank-you' to him as she tucked it in with the rest of her books. He was just a sweet guy, unlike _some_.

Derek lowly grumbled, making Casey turn her attention back to her step-brother. He was glaring coldly at Noel, but swiftly turned to Casey when he realized he had her attention. His eyes immediately flamed with arrogance again, picking up their fight from where it was hung momentarily. "Don't flatter yourself. I was just buying some time before 'something better' got here," he replied, his voice veering off as he sized up a blonde across the hall. Without another word, he strolled over to the girl, who more than willingly allowed him to guide her down the hallway.

"_Pig_," Casey muttered under her breath.

The brunette moved her gaze from Derek's retreating figure to Emily. Her best friend's eyes were glazed over as they usually were when she was thinking anything Derek related. Casey cheaply laughed at Emily's actions, but let her linger. It wasn't until a few minutes later when Casey said farewell to Noel that she promptly shook Emily from her world away.

"I thought you said you were over Derek," Casey sneered as the duo began their way to homeroom.

"_I am_, but you can't blame a girl for still liking to look! And you know, he really isn't that bad of a guy," Emily insisted. Casey snorted in disbelief. "Come on, you know I'm not lying. You've told me yourself about some of the nice things he's done for you, like that one time when he called your dad…or more recently when he helped at Marti's camp last summer or –"

"Okay!" Casey said quickly, before Emily decided to retell every little deed Derek has done that would pin him as a good – more like reasonably okay – guy. "He has his moments, _sure_, but the fact that I can _count_ all of them is the problem! Everything he does is for a reason; the boy always has a hidden agenda."

Emily shook her head. "I think the main problem here is that you've never really given him a chance. Plus, you're never that nice to him either…"

Casey immediately stopped in her tracks at Emily's words. "_Excuse me?! _I _have_ given him chances, but he's always his egotistical, selfish self! He's the one that has to ruin everything. And I _am_ nice to him," Casey claimed, "…sometimes…" she added as an afterthought.

Emily amusingly snorted to herself. "I bet you couldn't go a week being nice to Derek."

"I _so_ could!" Casey proclaimed, glaring determinedly at her friend. "And even if I did, he would still be an absolute jerk to me!"

"So, you up for it?," Emily insisted, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows in challenge, knowing fully well that Casey _couldn't_ turn down a challenge when she's presented with one. "Can you go one whole week – 7 full days – not yelling, fighting, belittling, or putting down Derek?"

"_Yes_," Casey spat confidently, "I'll be _completely _nice to Derek for a full week – or at least pretend to – and that will show you that it really is his fault that we can't get along!"

Emily clicked her tongue, trying to will herself from grinning. "Alright, so if you can manage to be nice to him for a full week, I'll take you out on a little shopping spree with the money I got from my birthday. You're going to deserve a treat for holding in all that anger."

Casey's eyes lit up at the aspect, but then darkened as she eyed her friend. "But if I fail – even though I obviously won't – what do you get out of it?" Casey curiously asked.

"Some peace and quietness for at least a little while," she answered with a playful grin. Casey laughed, but accepted, making plans for her to start right after she got home from school that day.

…

**A/N:** I've been re-obsessing over Life with Derek/Dasey (and Michael Seater) since last summer, so it's only natural that I'd write something for them. This chapter and the next are a bit short, but they do get longer. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews would be appreciated and make me happy! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I forgot to mention in the first chapter, but this story takes place during Derek and Casey's senior year. Casey is broken up with Max and Sally just doesn't exist in this story, as well as Truman. lol. Just to let you know. Now on with the story! :)

* * *

Casey trudged up the porch steps of her home. She had purposely stayed after school at the library, trying to avoid the inevitable. It was now almost 5pm. She heavily sighed. She really did not look forward to a whole week spent biting her tongue and pretending to be nice to Derek. He didn't deserve her niceness! However, she was trying to prove a point to Emily. Plus, that shopping spree Emily promised was oh-so appealing.

Pausing just outside the front door, Casey could hear the living room television changing stations sporadically. Casey huffed. That meant Derek was watching TV. (He was very impatient when he couldn't find something worth watching.)

Taking a needed breath, Casey slowly opened the door to the house. She was greeted by an annoying creaking noise coming from the recliner, which was being rocked back and forth by Derek. Derek's face was intently fixated on the TV as he kept trying to find something to watch. Casey half thought (wished) she could sneak by his figure without his knowledge and put off actually dealing with him until later, but who was she kidding?

"Hey, Klutzilla!" he greeted loudly, turning his head towards her a second after her last thought. "You're finally home! Did you fall down a well or something?" He flashed her an arrogant grin.

Mustering everything within her to not comment back against the klutzilla jab, she plastered a fake smile across her face. "Hi, Derek, thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

With that, she quickly climbed up the stairs, but not before seeing the wave of mass confusion wash over her stepbrother's face. It wasn't until she almost reached her bedroom door that she heard him yell, "I wasn't concerned!"

…

Casey reluctantly took her seat across from the bane of her existence like usual that night at dinner, though she mentally planned to avoid any unnecessary communication with him throughout the meal. If he wasn't talking to her directly, there was no need to contribute. No matter how badly she might want to comment about his womanizing, sloppy, and/or irresponsible ways, she had to pretend that these things didn't actually bother her.

Fortunately for Casey, the younger kids had monopolized the dinner conversation for most of the evening and any topic that might provoke Casey was avoided. However, when Casey was down to her last few bites, Nora suddenly asked her about her day, much to her chagrin.

"Just a normal day…" Casey told her mother with a small forced smile. She glanced at her mother when she said it, but immediately stared down at her food when she felt a heavy gaze directed on her from across the table.

"Though, can a friend from my English class come over tomorrow?" Casey asked, suddenly remembering that Noel had suggested that morning to get together the next day after school. "We have this project that we want to get started on."

"Of course, dear," Nora allowed, nodding her head politely.

"Why don't you just say Emily?" Derek spoke, small remnants of food falling from his mouth when he did. Casey tried to force the displeasure from her face. "I mean, Emily is your partner for everything and she's your only friend." He smirked as he finished.

Casey took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at him. "It's actually not Emily," she replied evenly. "My teacher picked our partners and I got paired with Noel, who _is_ my friend, actually."

Derek rolled his eyes, as if not believing that she could have more than one friend. "Who the heck is Noel?"

Casey bit the inside of her cheek. Numerous insults regarding his memory and intelligence were on the tip of her tongue. The boy was beyond oblivious. "_Noel_, you know, the guy that was in the play with us?" Casey answered back. _As well as the guy you were glaring at this morning for no reason! _Casey pointedly thought.

She saw realization dawn over Derek's features, and then he chuckled. "_That _guy?" When Casey nodded her head in confirmation, Derek only laughed some more.

"What's so funny?" Casey questioned, trying her hardest to keep the edge out of her voice.

Waiting until his laughter subsided, Derek said, "Oh, nothing, except that he's a total dweeb. One of the many reasons why I laugh at you too."

Casey hiked up one eyebrow and let out a short laugh. "Well, if we're both dweebs maybe we're perfect for each other then, eh?" She said, giving Derek a wide grin.

Derek's face immediately sobered up. "Wait – are you actually thinking about going out with him?"

Casey only shrugged her shoulders innocently as she excused herself from the dinner table.

…

A couple hours later, Casey found herself watching a _Lifetime_ movie down in the living room. The movie was almost over and the heroine was just about to make a dramatic life-changing decision. And although the plot was overdone and somewhat predictable, Casey found herself oddly intrigued.

A heavy plop was then heard to her left. She shortly looked over and saw Derek situating himself into his chair, smirk already firmly in place. Trying to remain unphased by the annoying specimen, she turned back to the TV to watch whatever remaining time she had left before he changed the channel on her.

She faintly sensed him snatch the remote that was on the couch's arm a minute later. In her peripherals she could see his eyes light up at the thought of another victory. Then suddenly, but obviously not surprisingly, the channel changed to some sports game.

Slowly, Casey turned her head towards Derek with a bored-like expression on her face. "I guess I'll go to bed," she said, yawning. She stood up from the couch, raising her hands up slightly, stretching. "Enjoy your...whatever," she muttered, motioning to the program now playing on the TV.

She went to walk away, but Derek caught her wrist, keeping her in place. "I took the remote and changed your channel," he stated.

Casey then gave him an inquisitive look. "Okay…" she drawled out, "And?"

His eyes widened slightly, almost baffled. "I took the remote and changed your channel!" he repeated, this time with a little more infliction. "It was almost over too!"

She stared at him oddly for a few moments at his outburst. "Right," Casey opted to say, "but _Lifetime_ movies are basically all the same. I practically figured out the ending from the beginning. I'll survive," she finished, slightly chuckling.

Derek's mouth gaped open for a moment before he slapped it abruptly shut. "You're not going to try and wrestle the remote back? Or at least yell, '_Der-ek!_'?"

Casey shook her head. She turned to leave, but only then realized that Derek never dropped her wrist. Derek seemed to realize this at the same time she did, and swiftly let her go.

"What is _going on _with you today?" Derek questioned. Casey felt like she could almost see _worry?_ in his eyes, but that obviously wasn't right.

The brunette girl shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her tone was slightly higher than usual, however. Casey mentally berated herself because she knew that Derek knew that that was her 'I'm lying' voice.

Derek raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking along the same lines that she just was. "You haven't argued or picked a fight with me since this morning, what's up?" he asked, "not that, you know, I care, or anything…" he promptly added, probably realizing his first statement sounded much to the contrary.

Casey wanted to laugh so hard that she felt the inclination to snort. It was _actually bothering_ Derek that she was not fighting back. Who knew that pretending to be nice to Derek would freak him out so much? Casey suddenly felt like she had won the lottery.

"Maybe I'm just sick of all the fighting," Casey calmly spoke. She wasn't _technically _lying. Casey did believe their fights got tiring from time to time. It could be quite stressful, and it left her voice raspy and parched more times than none.

Derek merely stared at her, as if he was almost baffled. He then raised his hand in an effort to begin saying something, but before he could question her further, she climbed the stairs and went to her room.

* * *

**A/N: **Sooo, how was this chapter? Things are just building up at this point. The next couple chapters are going to be in Derek's POV, so we get to see what he's thinking about all of this.

The reviews from last chapter made me VERY happy. I love hearing what you guys are thinking, even if it doesn't deal with the story, but of random LWD or Michael Seater (or any cast member) goodness. :D

REVIEW REPLY:

Harmonious Wolf: Here's more! Thanks for reviewing!

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kmr04: Hopefully it's still interesting. lol. Thanks for reviewing. Also, I love your avatar/icon. ;)

othfan67: ADIE! And I did write, just not LWD. lol. I couldn't think of anything to write for a while. I don't think they'll have sex, but maybe I'll write a hot makeout session just for you. lol. ;) So glad to see you reviewed though!

lifewithdaseyy: Thanks for reviewing! Love your penname, btw. :)

TatsuDragonKing: Hopefully it's still looking promising for you. lol Thanks for reviewing!

Samantha: Thanks for reviewing!


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Derek found himself leaning back against his locker, brooding. His arms were crossed firmly and his face held a deep scowl as he watched the reason for his sour disposition. Casey.

His overdramatic, argumentative, grade-grubbing, klutz of a step-sister had flipped a one-eighty on him overnight it seemed. He couldn't begin to fathom what was going on in that keener-head of hers because she was actually being nice..._to him_! Derek just couldn't shake it.

He closed his eyes forcefully, and purposely knocked his head backwards into the locker as he tried to wrap his mind around the matter. When she had come home the day before, Derek had thought that maybe she was just trying to mess with him a little; it wasn't uncommon for her to try and ignore his plights. But today, she had let him use the bathroom first without any argument. And when he finally dragged himself downstairs, he was met with the mouthwatering aroma of chocolate chip pancakes that she said she made _especially_ for him. She even handed him the keys to the Prince, letting him have it for the day, even though it was supposed to be her turn.

Derek cautiously opened one eye to stealthily look in the direction of Casey's locker. She was facing towards him, but talking to Emily animatedly about something. She seemed to be acting regularly towards Emily. Though, come to think of it, Casey was acting like her normal self around everyone else at home too. She had even chastised Edwin that morning on how unbalanced his diet was when she saw he was only packing chips and a soda for lunch. So, why was she being super nice to just him? What game was she playing? Or was she serious about what she said about their fighting the previous night?

Both of Derek's eyes popped open, bugging slightly from the thought. The possibility that she had actually been serious about that could be dangerous. Their fighting was his key distraction from doing stupid(er) things. Because if he wasn't distracted by their fighting, he would get distracted by, well, her.

She was actually a very distracting individual. Like now, how her hair seemed to wave perfectly around her face, emphasizing her plumped cheeks even more as she smiled towards Emily. Or how the hallway lights bounced off her eyes, reminding him of the hue of the goalie crease just as it's been smoothed by the Zamboni – slick, smooth, electric blue. Or how her toned, dancing legs -

"I know I said I was okay with your infatuation on Casey, but staring _is_ kinda creepy," a voice jokingly interjected Derek's thoughts, making him inwardly panic at the unexpected voice and stand up straight from the lockers. He turned and fixed his gaze to where the voice came from, a quick explanation for his actions already on his tongue. However, it was just Sam, and Derek noticeably relaxed.

Sometime not long after Sam and Casey had officially ended their relationship, Derek admitted his feelings about Casey to Sam. (More like he was forced to after Sam heard about how weird Derek had acted during the Scott-Snot scenario, thanks to Edwin.) To Derek's utter shock, Sam was not mad, but highly amused at the idea. He even said that in hindsight it was pretty obvious. (Cause seriously? Male Code? Yeah, not his best work.)

"You seem a bit out of it. You alright, man?" Sam questioned. "I mean, you usually at least keep your doe-eye moments to a minimum," he teased.

"Shut up," Derek hollered good-naturally, lightly pushing Sam. Joking aside, Derek freely sighed as he tried to find words to explain the situation. "Casey is acting...different," he informed his best friend.

"Different how, you know, than usual?"

Derek shortly snorted, appreciating his friend for lightening the atmosphere a bit. He had been feeling smothered under his own thoughts. "Well, she being...nice to me."

"That _bitch_! How dare she?!" the sandy-haired boy exclaimed mockingly, chuckling instantly afterwards.

Derek rolled his eyes. "It's just...weird," he commented. "I feel like she's trying to get me back for something I did, and being nice to me is some sort of distraction from the big picture."

"I think you're thinking too much into this, D," Sam said, slapping a friendly hand on Derek's shoulder. "Why can't you just go with it? It might not last too much longer."

The leather coated boy groaned. "_Because_," Derek said pointedly, "I can't deal with a nice Casey! An angry Casey, no problem. But a nice Casey throws me off kilter; my guard gets lowered down and all these f-f-f-feel-ings start seeping out, making me do stupid, un-Derek like things. And I just _know_ that if it's a long-term change, I'm screwed. I'll end up asking her to marry me or something when she asks me to pass the salt during dinner!"

Sam couldn't help but snicker at that image. "You're definitely overreacting, buddy," he said in-between laughs. "Why are you making such a big deal about this? Who said anything about it being long-term? She's been nice to you before, but it never lasts. She'll probably want to rip your head off by tonight again."

"I hope…" Derek mumbled. His eyes then briefly flickered over to the girl in question, before he looked back at Sam. "But see, last night she told me she was sick of the fighting," he exasperated. "hence why she's being so nice to me..." Derek pulled at some of the matted hair on the top of his head, growling lowly in frustration. "I just don't know what to do..."

The dark haired teen fell against his locker again; the lock was gnawing into his shoulder, but at this point it was nothing but oddly comforting. "I can't openingly flirt with her like other girls because she's _Casey_, _my step-sister_. Plus, she wouldn't fall for the crap I say anyway. We fight, we argue. That's how we've interacted since day one. How am I supposed to communicate with her now if she doesn't want to fight?"

"_Well_," Sam started, drawling out the word, "I'm not a rocket scientist or anything, but maybe you should try actually talking to her, like a regular human being, and, I don't know, maybe try being decent towards her?" He raised an eyebrow at Derek.

"You're right..." Derek admitted quietly, furrowing his brow downward in concentration. Sam's head shot backward in surprise at Derek's easy admittance. "...you're not a rocket scientist!" Derek finished, snapping. Sam rolled his eyes at his friend's tactics.

"I thought I already told you. I can't be nice to her! If I'm nice to her, I'm going to end up looking like a fool, a-la-Kendra style, but times, like, infinity! I mean, she made me _freaking chocolate chip pancakes_ this morning, man! I can't tell you whether I was drooling more over the pancakes or the fact that she was dressed up in this little apron and was serving them to me."

Not to mention that he had _many_ dreams of her that emulated something similar to what he walked in on that morning. However, in high-definition and senses fully aware and functioning, he might have fallen into a state of shock. Heck, Casey could have asked him to dance the hula in a grass skirt in that moment and he probably would've obliged. Luckily, she left the room before something happened. (e.g. tasting the inside of her mouth rather than his food.) Derek shook his head, trying to collect himself and rid the image of Casey flipping pancakes (and of other things that _obviously_ didn't happen) from his mind.

"All I know," Derek started again, "is that I need to make her stop this-this _nice_ thing! If she doesn't want to fight with me, I'm gonna have to make her! Because otherwise, I'm done for!"

Without another word, Derek pushed himself off the lockers and sauntered over to Casey and Emily.

"Emily," he greeted his neighbor warmly with a grin. He turned to Casey, quickly masking his face with indifference. "Spacey," he deadpanned. They both nodded to him in acknowledgment.

"So, Emily," Derek began, "did Casey tell you about the _awesome_ breakfast she made this morning?" He wrapped his one arm loosely around his step-sister's shoulders as he regarded Emily. He felt Casey stiffen under him, but she made no move to shrug him off like she normally would have done.

Emily was currently saying _something_, but, to be honest, Derek wasn't exactly listening. He could see Emily opening her mouth, talking, but Derek's mind was more preoccupied with the brunette under his arm. She never really let him get this close without threatening bodily harm, so the proximity was already getting to him. He seemed to only be able to process the smell of Casey's coconut scented hair, and how that smell mixed pleasantly with the accompanied scent of butterscotch – which he knew came from one of her _many_ body lotions that littered the bathroom sink counter. It was driving him mad and his resistance was waning.

"Anyway," Derek hurriedly interrupted Emily on whatever she was saying, hoping they were still on the topic of breakfast. "I'm just glad Spacey finally realized that a woman's true place is in the kitchen," he spoke evenly, but challengingly, as he eyed Casey. "You should make breakfast more often. Maybe even work your way to making dinners too. And hey, by the time we graduate, you might be qualified enough to become Stay-at-Home Nora, two-point-oh!"

Casey's lip twitched, but instead of giving him a murderous glare or begin ranting about some feminist blah blah blah like he thought she would do, she smiled agreeably at him. "That sounds…_nice_," she said leisurely. "And, if I have some time in the morning, I'd love to make breakfast again. It _is_ a known fact that a big breakfast can help…"

Again, Derek zoned out. He could faintly hear Casey jumble something about statistics and energy. (Just because he liked her didn't mean he wanted to willingly listen to her try to shove knowledge in his head. There was a reason why he slept through half his classes.) It was hard to concentrate anyway because she was closer now; she had angled herself towards him to talk. His arm was (remarkably and shockingly) still around her and his heart was hammering; the thumping echoing deafeningly in his ears. Uncharacteristically, his hands were growing clammy as well.

And as she continued to talk, Derek couldn't help but watch as her lips parted and then met again as her words took form. Her voice was lulling him to the point that he was unconsciously leaning closer. (Her voice was rather spellbinding when she wasn't yelling at him.) His mind couldn't help but picture just how her lips would move against his own; he licked his lips instinctively at the mental image.

He suddenly jumped in place at the action. While doing so, Derek finally realized he had gotten slightly closer to Casey, and quickly retracted himself away, pointedly avoiding either girl's gaze in case they had realized it too. "Yeah…thanks for the…lesson, or whatever, Keener, but I've got to go," he abruptly said, feigning annoyance as he hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "I've got to skip a class or make-out with some random girl now," he then added, trying one last time to get her to react.

A moment passed.

"Okay, have fun!" she exclaimed happily instead, a smile widely etched on her face.

Derek couldn't hide the horrifying shock that plastered across his face. Though, swiftly catching himself, he nodded uneasily to the girls and pivoted in the other direction promptly.

"Have fun?" Derek quietly uttered in disbelief, repeating Casey's words as he walked away. No 'Pig!' or 'Slacker!' or rant on how irresponsible he was or a jab at his 'bimbos'? He shook his head in bewilderment. This was bad. Very bad.

….

Derek's mind was restless as he slid into his seat across from Sam at lunch. He had tried seemingly everything he could to get Casey irritated with him. He tried some old classics, like taping a 'Klutzilla' sign onto her back. He tried some new tactics, like gluing her notebooks together or replacing her pen with one that squirted ink all over her (was that new?) blouse. He even managed to make her late to most of her classes. (One instance might have included making out with a random girl on her locker.) However, Casey barely batted an eye. And now, Derek was panicking because he was running out of ideas.

"Plan 'Get-Casey-to-Yell-at-You' not going so well?" Sam humorously observed. Derek sent his friend a murderous glare, to which Sam merely held up his hands in surrender. "Guess not," Sam quietly murmured under his breath. Derek pretended not to hear.

Knowing he couldn't give up, Derek abruptly stood from his seat. Sam – with a sandwich lodged in his mouth – looked up at him, scrunching his face in wonder. Derek waved him off as he started to walk determinedly over to Casey and Emily's table. Sure, he didn't have the slightest clue what he was going to do yet, but Derek was a wingin' it kind of guy anyway; he'd think of something eventually.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted when he approached their table. He gave himself permission to plop down into the seat next to Casey, casually throwing his arm around her shoulders in the process. "I thought I could spend lunch with my neighborand _oh-so-favorite_ step-sister today!" he exclaimed, squeezing Casey's shoulders as he spoke the last words. He grinned manically and let his eyebrows jump comically at Emily, who seemed to understand his motives and was trying hard not to laugh at Casey's expense.

Casey remained resolute though and gave Derek a small smile. "If that's really what you want, Derek…"

Her response only fueled the determination in Derek, which further convinced him to spend the rest of his lunch period doing everything he could possibly think of to piss off Casey. Therefore, he shoved his face with his food – and Casey's food, if you included the croutons he stole from her salad. He spoke with his mouth full 99 percent of the time and made sure to sputter some of his chewed bits on to her. He spoke arrogantly loud and told Emily embarrassing stories about Casey that he knew his neighbor would never have heard otherwise. But despite all of this and more, Casey sat as still as a statue – quiet as one too – treating him as if he wasn't even there, like he was a ghost and she could not hear nor see him no matter how hard he tried.

Casey eventually rose from her seat to throw away her trash. Consequently, the movement caused Derek's arm to fall from her shoulders (Yes, it had been there the whole time!) and Derek felt the feeling of lost in more ways than one. He quietly sighed in his seat as he watched Casey walk to the other side of the cafeteria where the trashcans were held. He hated feeling so powerless, so helpless. He hated not having _any_ effect on her, when she had numerous effects on him by just breathing. It was bad enough that throughout the whole duration of lunch he was in close proximity with her again, smelling her fragrance and feeling her body heat radiating onto him. And even worse was that his eyes kept catching the ink stain on her blouse, which happened to be dangerously close to her cleavage. (His own pranks were against him now!)

Frustrated with Casey and frustrated with himself, Derek stared dismally down at the table top, suddenly finding great interest in the smooth surface; it was easier than admitting his, once again, failure to piss Casey off. But that's when he noticed Emily still had a piece of her lunch left untouched. He smirked as a light bulb seemed to figuratively shine above his head.

"You going to eat that?" Derek asked, gesturing to the still wrapped-and-uneaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Emily shook her head, so Derek took it upon himself to snatch it. He quickly undid the sandwich from the saran, while keeping an eye out for Casey – who was half-way back to the table.

Casey soon returned and, just as she was about to sit in her chair, Derek slipped the sandwich on to the seat. Derek had ripped the two pieces of bread from each other and situated them both face up on the chair. So, when Casey finally sat down, it only took a second after the quaint _squish_ sounded to know what Derek had done.

Derek immediately saw Casey's eyes widen with a pit of fury that he hadn't see in hours, and quite frankly missed. He started laughing hysterically, both from the prank and out of sheer happiness. His arms wrapped around his middle as he tried to cope with the severity his laughter was ensuing on his body. Casey looked as if she was about to blow steam from her ears and strangle him, and Derek could just help but think how perfect this all was.

Derek then watched Casey bite her lip and grip the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white, waiting impatiently for the scream fest that was long overdue now. Unpredictably, though, after a few more seconds ticked by, the flame in her eyes slowly diminished. She swallowed loudly, closing her eyes tightly as she did, before she twisted towards him. Her demeanor suddenly was cool and collected. "I think you accidentally left your sandwich on my chair, Derek. Sorry I ruined it."

Derek – who had still been snickering up until this point – stumbled over his laughter, abruptly stopping at her apology. His mouth then gapped at her words for the second time that day.

With that, Casey got up from the table and made her way to the exit. Derek followed her every move, shell-shocked. He was too flabbergasted to even take advantage of the excuse to stare at her ass, as she sauntered away with the two pieces of bread still stuck firmly to her rear.

When the cafeteria doors finally shut closed behind her, Derek turned sharply to Emily. "What is wrong with your friend?!" he insisted incredulously. "I just PB&J'ed her butt and _she_ apologized to _me_!"

Emily chuckled, which caused Derek to growl at her. If he couldn't laugh at the situation, surely no one else could either. "Listen," Emily started, "Casey just doesn't want to fight right now, okay?"

"But _whyyyy_," Derek complained, whining.

"She just has her reasons for why she's acting like this, okay?" Emily further stated.

Derek sneered at his long-time neighbor. What reasons could she possibly have? Unless… "So, she really is sick of the fighting?" Derek inquired wretchedly. He couldn't help but feel saddened by the possibility. He always enjoyed their spars and he thought she did too – to a certain extent, at least.

Emily's eyebrows nearly kissed her hairline, but she soon quirked her mouth to the side in an effort to try and hide a smile. Her eyes were currently holding a level of amusement and understanding that made Derek feel exposed all of a sudden. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as she said her next words carefully. "Listen, I really think you should start being nicer to Casey. Just cut her some slack. It might do some wonders. For the both of you."

Derek snorted, rolling his eyes. "Heh, good one, Davis," he sarcastically retorted. He linked his hands and placed them behind his head, hoping the action would attest the nonchalance he was attempting to convey. Inside, however, he felt like rattling.

Emily was telling him to bite the bullet just like Sam had basically told him to do earlier. But what if that was exactly what Casey wanted before she decided to turn the tables right back around? He couldn't let himself become vulnerable, particularly in-front of Casey. What if she was doing this all as a joke and was just trying to find new ways to mess with him? Hell, he would do it for kicks, so why couldn't she?

The thing that caused him the most uneasiness about the whole situation was that it all seemed too fishy for his liking. Casey had been nice to him before, sure, but with reasons. Now, it felt like her niceness was all coming out of the blue without any pretense whatsoever. It was like someone randomly decided a minute before face-off to ban a puck; it made no sense.

…

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, so how was that chapter? :) I felt that Derek would at least put up a fight when it came to Casey and their fighting, no? Hopefully Derek wasn't too OOC or anything.

Just to preview, next chapter is also in Derek's POV and features some of Noel.

Please review and let me know what you guys are thinking! Thanks for reading!

REVIEW REPLY:

Kay: Thanks for reviewing!

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CatzzCK: Hey! I remember your tumblr actually very well. For some reason it always catches my eye when you reblog off of any of my blogs. lol. Thanks for reviewing!

lifewithdaseyy: Casey is wayy to oblivious about things. lol. I feel like she wouldn't know Derek liked her unless it was as obvious that that sky is blue! XD Thanks for reviewing!

Lady Azura: When I wrote that line ("I wasn't concerned!") I could just easily picture Derek saying that in the show. Glad you thought so too. Thanks for reviewing!

Samantha: Thank for reviewing!

othfan67: Sorry I couldn't post this chapter for your birthday, but I hope you had a great day regardless. And I think I know what video you mean, It was beyond epic, if that's possible. lol. Thanks for reviewing!

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Scobydoo: Glad to see you are enjoying it so far. Thanks for reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

All practice long, Derek couldn't help but think about Casey's strange behavior and the possible why's behind it. He was beyond frustrated that he couldn't break her or even come up with a plausible explanation. Though, after flattening some of his teammates against the boards, he felt a tad better. But now, his muscles were sore, and he was tired and hungry. All he wanted at that moment was to eat his dinner, crash in his bed, and call it a night.

As Derek shuffled from the Prince to the front door, he could hear the buzzed chatter of dinner already in place. Casey's laughter shrilled over it for a moment and Derek could help but gently smile as he went to open the door. (That girl was turning him into a _huge_ softie.)

However, when he opened the door, not only was he greeted by his family just beginning dinner, but also by Noel Covington. In his seat, no less. Derek eyes grew cold and his lips pressed tightly together. He slammed the front door loudly, causing everyone to jump and turn to him.

"Fam," he acknowledged shortly, hanging his leather jacket up on the coat-rack. His eyes then zeroed in on Noel. "Nick."

"It's actually No-"

"Yeah, whatever," Derek rudely interrupted as he approached the table. "You're in my seat!"

"Derek, Noel is out guest. Surely you can sit somewhere else for tonight?" Nora offered, giving Noel a polite smile.

The hockey player let out a small laugh. He was not in the mood to even try and play nice tonight. "No," he said defiantly, never wavering his threatening gaze from Noel. "Well?"

Noel scrambled out of the chair, grabbing his plate with him as he did. Noel ended up taking Lizzie's usual seat next to Casey, since the younger McDonald just had to _graciously_ offer. Derek wanted to make a fuss over that arrangement as well – not liking how the guy was _next_ to Casey now – but decided that it would only cause unwanted attention. He didn't need to be raising any eyebrows over his behavior. It was one thing to get mad at Noel for taking _his_ seat, but to argue over another one, which he had no association to, might get his family thinking Derek hated Noel. And that would only sprinkle a trail of hints that could eventually shine a light on his real feelings towards Casey, and Derek had been successfully keeping that secret in the dark for a couple years now and he wanted it to stay that way. So, he kept his mouth shut.

Truthfully, besides the fact that he _hated_ when people sat in his spots, he only acted so nasty towards Noel because he knew Casey hated when Derek was rude or impolite to others. By Derek acting the way he was, he was hoping to entice a reaction out of Casey. On any normal day, she would have already been at his throat, yelling about his rudeness and lack of common courtesy. Today, to Derek dismay, she hadn't done anything at all.

Derek curiously glanced over at his eldest step-sister, wondering if she at least looked flustered. His heart skipped a beat though when he noticed her gaze was already matching his. Her eyes were questioning him, like she was trying to calculate his motives. Derek swallowed nervously and immediately diverted his eyes to the food on the table. He started to fill his plate up with a mountainous amount of food, hoping the weight of her gaze would lift if he started acting like nothing was wrong. Luckily, Nora and Lizzie chose only seconds later to start questioning Casey and Noel about their project, and Casey's eyes were focused elsewhere.

As dinner progressed, Derek could unfortunately hear Noel's voice drone on about some PowerPoint this and researching that in-between his violent chews. Derek just wanted to lodge a dinner roll down Noel's mouth so he would shut up. (Throwing him out of the house would have been a more favorable choice because then at least Noel wouldn't have been able to look at Casey so… _affectionately_).

It wasn't until Casey started talking that Derek slowed down his eating pace to pay attention. He internally smirked as he took note of her voice. He wasn't even listening to what she was saying, but by her tone, he knew she was thrilled about whatever the project entailed. _Keener_. He fondly thought; covertly hiding his smile as he took a sip of his drink.

The rugged hockey player chanced a glance at Casey for the first time since their little exchange earlier. Sure enough, her eyes were starry with enthusiasm, like he predicted just from listening to her voice. Her cheeks were flushed by her excitement and her hands were clasped together against her chest, as if holding the project close to heart. Her lips were curved upwards, and a small shine from her lip-gloss made her smile seem ten times brighter.

Derek couldn't seem to pull his eyes away. He felt captivated to keep watching and to take in all the minuscule movements her face made as she continued to speak. The girl was so passionate about everything she did and it never ceased to amaze him how utterly beautiful she looked every time.

"…practice, Derek?"

"Derek?"

"Whah?" Derek sounded, finally turning his head away from Casey to the general area of the table. If Derek was a blushing man, he would have been as red as the kool-aid dude, because surely he had been caught gawking by _someone_. "Sorry, I-uh-didn't hear what you said…"

Lizzie and Edwin both bent their heads downward as they chuckled. "I bet," Derek heard his brother mutter, and the two giggled some more. Derek glared at the two of them, but only kicked Edwin in the shin, since he was the only one he could reach.

"I asked if you had a good practice," George repeated, oblivious it seemed to everything that had happened previously.

Derek only nodded as he stuffed a big forkful of food into his mouth. The conversation quickly veered off of him when he failed to elaborate, which was fine by Derek. He didn't want to be in the spotlight tonight, especially now after being caught staring by Edwin and Lizzie – if the sniggers were any constellation. If Casey had just been acting like herself, he would have been too caught up in fighting with her than to stare at her like he did. He internally slapped himself for being so obvious again.

The conversation had instead directed towards Noel. His dad and Nora were asking him about school and what universities he was interested in. Obviously, Derek could care less where the geek went – unless that university happened to be the same one as Casey's. But from the names he heard Noel listing off, Derek couldn't recall, so none of them were any Casey had been motoring on about for the past couple months. He mentally cheered. It was one less thing to worry about.

"So, you write and recite poetry?" Nora asked Noel pleasantly. Derek could tell she was already very impressed by the tall, lanky boy.

Derek snorted before Noel could answer – not being able to help himself. "You write _poetry_?"

Noel gapped at the sudden question from Derek. (He was probably still a little intimated to say or do the wrong thing after the chair debacle.) Noel merely nodded his head.

"Wow, that's so lame," Derek expressed, laughing to himself as he continued to eat.

"DER-EK!"

Derek stopped mid-scoop in his plate of food to look up at the brunette across from him expectantly. When he was met with a blank stare, he only then realized that it wasn't Casey who screeched his name like that. He frowned in disappointment, before quickly turning to his father, who, now Derek understood, had been the one to yell his name.

"What?" Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, it's already lame that Casey does it, but it's even lamer than Joel, here, does too! What guy writes poetry?"

"_Noel_," Noel quietly corrected, but Derek didn't spare to acknowledge it, or him.

"I think it's rather a charming hobby for men," Casey commented innocently. "Most of the greatest poets were men. There was Blake, Wordsworth, and even Shakespeare…"

Derek's blood was beginning to boil as Casey continued to rattle on. It was ticking him off that she was defending Noel, but all in the same, he felt excitement course through him as he could feel the buildup of a fight brewing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Derek cut in, "that was all in fancy tights and hat times. No _real_ man would be caught writing poetry in this age unless he had a death wish or was a prissy!"

"Derek!" George yelled from his seat. His dad's face was considerably red. "Go to your room!"

"But-" Derek began.

"NOW!" George insisted.

Derek rolled his eyes, letting his utensils clang nosily down onto the plate. Although he wanted to stay a bit longer – at least long enough to see if Casey snapped – he got up from his seat and trudged up the stairs.

…

An hour and a George lecture later, Derek found himself in bed, staring up at his ceiling in thought. (He was thinking a lot lately, wasn't he? Damn Casey!) He hadn't meant to go as far as he did at dinner. He honestly had no intention to bash Noel, and maybe he could blame his tiredness on his first slip, but once Casey interjected, he had thrown all common sense out the window in hopes that he could spark a fight.

And, okay! He didn't exactly like Noel anyway. Having Noel at dinner had driven Derek nuts. Not only did the guy sit in his seat, but Derek was pretty sure Noel liked Casey as well, and Derek didn't like competition. Least not forget, only the night before, Casey mentioned that she and Noel were 'perfect for each other', which might have turned Derek a bit territorial than usual tonight and have fueled him to make the comments he made, too.

In a round-about way, Derek had been trying to show Casey who was clearly more manly, thus making him the better choice – not that she was choosing…but if she was.

It didn't matter whether he was manlier, or was faster, stronger, or more athletic than Noel. She would never choose him. Casey looked for qualities in guys that Derek knew he didn't have. She expected guys to do things Derek swore he would never do. She wanted a guy who would be sensitive, write her poetry, give her flowers, be chivalrous yet aware of her feminist rights, and la di da di da. And Noel was all of those things. Derek then picked up a dormant tennis ball that had been lying on his desk, only to immediately chuck the object across the room in frustration.

The thing is, Derek _would_ do that stuff for Casey. Or at least try, if she gave him the chance. The giving him a chance part was the ringer, since Derek barely – if not at all – popped up on her radar. (He was pretty sure her brain's defenses had him on high alert and labeled as 'most unwanted'.) He wasn't the romantic type, naturally, but he would try, _for her_. And God, he doesn't know when she managed to wrap him around her finger like this, but she had, and he surprisingly didn't care. Somewhere along the line he fell for Klutzilla herself. (Irony? Karma? Or both?)

Derek heavily sighed. He absolutely despised his predicament. He usually wasn't one to be timid around girls, but just like how he prided himself on being the exception to seemingly every rule, Casey was the exception to everything regarding him. She made him nervous. She made him cautious. Casey was intimidating and stubborn and like no girl he had ever crossed paths with before. Casey was the only one brave and daring enough to look him in the eye and call him out on his bullshit. She was the only one who didn't swoon over his charm and let him get away with everything.

He was already way in over his head, but then he had to factor in the fact that she was his step-sister. Someone that he wasn't even supposed to be thinking about this way to begin with. And with that added factor, he knew for sure he could never tell Casey his feelings – unless by some miracle he found out she reciprocated. Because if she turned him down, it wasn't like he could ignore her like he did to the girls at school or the mall. She lived in the room next to him. She ate dinner across the table from him. And when they finally moved out, he'd still see her at family events. Her constant presence in his life would only be a reminder to him that she would never feel the same – and Derek didn't deal with rejection well to begin with, but with Casey, she had the power to really do some emotional damage.

But, if for some crazy reason, he did end up telling her how he felt and she didn't feel the same, how could he be sure that she wouldn't use it against him. Now, Casey was by no means him, which means she wasn't very manipulative, so it didn't seem like something she would do. However, from all the stunts and pranks he has pulled on her over the years, not to mention the things he hasn't done yet, who's to think she'd not use his feelings against him as leverage? Derek just couldn't take that chance. It would be like providing a noose to his own hanging.

It's why he had been trying so hard to keep this all a secret and under wraps. Sam didn't even know the extent of Derek's f-f-feel-ings. He was scared shitless of Casey's reaction – rejection. He'd rather have Casey continue to yell and scream at him, than risk the possibility that she would shut him out (kinda like she was doing now, but completely). Derek winced at the image of Casey not even sparing him a glance; at least her recent behavior hadn't gone to that extreme.

Though, at the rate he was going today, the whole world would know how Derek felt towards Casey. First, Sam had interrupted him looking at Casey, meaning just about anyone in the hallway at that moment could have too. Not to mention what happened at dinner, which now meant that Lizzie and Edwin were probably suspicious, and suspected _something_. Casey's behavior was throwing him for a serious loop, and he needed to learn how to control this situation before it cost him.

A musical ring then floated throughout the room, indicating that someone was calling Derek's cell-phone. Derek trekked from his bed to his desk, where his phone was lying next to his computer keyboard. Picking up the device, he checked the caller id; it was Sam.

"Yell-oh," Derek answered, greeting his friend half-heartedly.

"Well don't you sound cheerful," Sam quipped sarcastically. "You still pissed?"

"I'm not pissed," Derek insisted.

"Right," Sam agreed curtly, "and you also didn't try to decapitate me and everyone else on the team at practice today…oh, wait…you did!"

Derek groaned heavily into the phone as he dropped into his desk-chair. He was already heavily annoyed from the day's events, not to mention grumpy. "What do you want, Sam? I'm kinda running low on patience if you couldn't figure that out!"

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright, dude. You've been a little kooky today and I just wanted to make sure you didn't kill of the fam or something in your frenzy…"

Derek snorted. "Sam, I'm annoyed, not homicidal." The oldest Venturi kid then thought back to dinner. "Though I wouldn't have been against popping Covington in the face earlier at dinner…"

"Covington? Noel Covington?" Sam questioned. Derek could almost picture his best friend's face skewed up in confusion over the phone.

"Yup," Derek spoke aloofly, popping the 'p'.

A few seconds ticked on until Sam seemed to make a revelation. "_Oh_…so he was there for Casey…" Sam spoke softly. "Is there anything going on between them?" Sam spoke up again. There was an edge of pity clipped onto his words, but Derek decided to not acknowledge it. Derek wasn't usually one to let a girl get him so worked up, and Derek couldn't let Sam know Casey had that type of effect on him. Derek didn't do pity, and he surely didn't need anyone's sympathy. He was a man. He could deal.

"Don't think so," Derek replied, propping his elbow on his desk so that his free hand could rest against his cheek. "He came over to work on a project, but that didn't stop him from making eyes at Casey the whole time."

"She into him?"

Derek sighed, dragging a heavy hand over his face tiredly as he contemplated the question. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I heard her tell someone after the play that she wasn't interested, but then she still hangs around him and thinks his poetry is 'charming'," Derek ended, mimicking Casey. "But if she doesn't like him now, I guess it's only a matter of time until she does, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Noel is everything Casey looks for in a guy. Like she said last night, 'they're 'perfect for each other'."

"She said that they were perfect for each other?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, last night during dinner. I was making fun of both of them – called them both dweebs or something – and that's when she said it," Derek explained.

"And you still haven't found out why she's being so nice to you?" Sam suddenly asked. Derek raised a brow at the sudden subject change, but decided to not comment on it.

"Why do you think I went on a rampage at practice?" Derek deadpanned with a dry chuckle. "But nope! Still don't know what the Space-Case is doing. I even asked Emily at lunch about what was going on, but that was a bust! She just said that Casey 'had her reasons' – whatever that means…"

Derek could hear Sam hum in thought. "Did Emily say anything else?"

Derek wracked his mind, trying to remember the conversation from earlier that day. "Um…just something about that I should 'cut Casey some slack'…and something about how being nice could do wonders for the both of us, but that doesn't make much sense…right?"

"Whoa…" Derek heard his best friend utter breathlessly. Moments passed and Derek almost thought Sam had hung up, but then Sam's voice began speaking again. "What if – what if Casey knew Noel was like her perfect guy, but when she finally saw what she thought she wanted, it wasn't what she expected…"

"Huh?!" Derek hollered into the phone, scrunching his whole face inwards in bewilderment. Sam was talking gibberish now.

"You said that Noel is like Casey's dream guy, right?" Sam paused for Derek's verification then continued, "but maybe after getting to know Noel – her So-Called-Mr. Perfect – she realized that her ideal guy wasn't so cracked up to be. What if she realized that she wants something a little bit different than she once thought?"

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sam! You're talking riddles, just come out and say what you think!"

"Fine!" Sam said, exasperated, "I think Casey is being nice to you because she likes you, like you do her!"

Derek's mouth fell agar as his eyes popped. His heart rate was quickly gaining speed and Derek found himself unable to breath for a split second. "Wh – how – Are you high?! Why would you think that?!" Derek stuttered; he was finding it quite difficult to formulate words at the moment. Beads of sweat were already fully perspired on his forehead and he was feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden.

"_Not high_, my theory does make sense. I mean, come on, listen! Casey says she doesn't want to fight with you anymore. She then stops teasing, yelling, and insulting you, and starts being overly nice. And all of this is just _sudden_, correct?" Derek let out a strangled noise, but Sam took that as confirmation.  
"Casey is not one to lie or deceit; she's terrible at it. So, this can't be a scheme to get you back for anything, or else you would have figured it out by now, D."

Sam didn't want his best friend to become too overwhelmed too fast, so he paused for a moment, letting the information linger in Derek's mind a bit before continuing. "And then there are the things that Emily said. The 'reasons' for Casey acting so nicely could very well be Casey's crush on you. With Emily knowing that, she told you to be nicer to her. And the whole Noel and Casey being 'perfect for each other' thing can be viewed as Casey trying to get you jealous…"

"Wha - Your theory sucks ass!" Derek cried out wildly. "Why the hell would she like me, when I _know_ she hates me?!" Derek couldn't fathom how something he swore could only be hypothetical minutes before might actually be happening.

"Okay, first off, Casey doesn't hate you, regardless." Derek scoffed at the idea, but let Sam continue. "Secondly, like I said, maybe she just started liking you because Noel – someone she might have thought was perfect for her – ended up being not so perfect for her. Then maybe somehow, through all of this, something clicked in her head and her affections targeted on you!"

"Goddammit, Sam! This conversation has surpassed girlish! I feel like I'm talking to that shrink of Casey's…"

"D, stop avoiding the subject," Sam demanded lightly. "Admit it; you know my theory has merit. It perfectly explains why she's not already dating Noel, and why she's being randomly nice to you."

Derek deeply sighed, and slouched his shoulders in defeat. "_Fine_," he relented reluctantly, "sure, it makes sense, but this is the same girl that probably has my funeral planned at a moment's notice. So, excuse me for finding all of this hard to believe!"

Sam rolled his eyes at his best friend naivety. "D, people can change their minds about people, as well as their feelings for those people. I'm not saying Casey's been pinning for you all this time, but that maybe, now, something changed her mind and she likes you. The question now: what are you going to do about it?"

"Who the hell said I'm doing anything?!" Derek voiced incredulously. "We're not even sure if your precious theory is right!"

"Then test it," Sam stated simply. "Ask her out or something. If she accepts, then surely she likes you back."

"I can't just ask her out! She wouldn't take me seriously – she'd think I am pranking her."

"So…what are you going to do? Because if Casey really does like you, you don't want to miss that opportunity," Sam advised.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna have to be nicer to Spacey…maybe show her that I'm not completely awful?" Derek answered, still unsure though. Derek was already racking his brain for ways to show Casey that he could be a nice guy, to her in particular; maybe hint to her how awesome of a boyfriend he could be if he wanted in the process.

"But this morning I thought you said you couldn't be nice to Casey, since it usually makes you do stupid stuff?" Sam inquired, suddenly remembering the conversation and how dead against his friend was at the idea merely hours before.

"Yeah, well, that was before I realized my life entered the twilight zone," Derek retorted.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, so that was this chapter! How did you guys like it? Any favorite lines? I personally loved a lot of lines in this chapter. And some of you are coming up with some awesome ideas. Keep them up. Lastly, REVIEW! We're going to be in Casey's head a bit more next chapter.

And someone asked about how Emily would know whether Casey is being nice to Derek or not at home. And everything will kinda be explained in further detail later in the story, regardless, I think Casey is someone who is really truthful. And even if she tried to lie, Emily would see right through her. Like Sam said in this chapter, she's not good at it. lol.

REVIEW REPLY:

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Yeah, Casey really showed a lot of restraint. But she's a girl with a mission and she's determined. :) Thanks for reviewing!

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CatzzCK: You'll find out some of what Casey is thinking in the next chapter! ;) Thanks for reviewing!

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Scobydoo: I've kinda always loved Sam (except when he was dating Casey lol). Hopefully you liked how I wrote him in this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!

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	5. Chapter 5

The constant beeping of the alarm clock trilled until Casey's hand blindingly hit the snooze button . She usually wasn't one to hit snooze, but yesterday had left her overly exhausted. Not only had she woken up extra early the day before to make Derek breakfast, but Derek had pushed her to her mental extremes with all his pranking and taunting. If he had a similar day laid out for her today, she needed to muster as much rest as she could.

It's not like she didn't prepare herself for _some_ type of retaliation on Derek's side. Derek doesn't like being told what to do and he hates when he feels like he isn't in control of a situation. Telling Derek that she didn't want to fight anymore was most likely translated into Derek-speak as 'try and fight with me more'. So, it only made sense to Casey that Derek would try to pull something to get his way; he was predictable, being a boy of routine and habit as he was. However, Casey couldn't understand why he was trying _so_ hard. Sure he pranked her and teased her, but never to this degree and for this long. It was puzzling.

10 minutes later, the alarm reluctantly rang off once more. With a huff, Casey refrained from hitting the snooze again, knowing that she couldn't put off the inevitable forever, or else she would be no better than Derek.

Eyes still closed, she swung her legs over the side of her bed. She craned her neck from one side to the other, trying to ease out the cricks from her slumber. Suddenly, her stomach growled with hunger. And maybe it was because she was so empty-bellied, but it seemed like she could almost smell the mixed aroma of maple and brown sugar oatmeal with earl-grey tea. Although seconds later when she finally opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the meal was actually present and laid out nicely on her desk.

Casey walked over to the food suspiciously. The only times she ever ate in her room were either when she was too sick to make it downstairs or she was receiving pity from her mother. At the moment she was considering the latter. Nora was probably feeling sorry for Casey about dinner the previous night with Noel and trying to make up for Derek's rudeness. _Or_ maybe this was a Derek prank, given his current streak. With that in thought, Casey promptly inspected the food, twirling a utensil around the bowl of oatmeal to look for strange lumps and lifting a spoonful to smell. She didn't see anything peculiar or smell anything toxic, though she half-wondered about laxatives.

Her stomach groaned again, almost as if it was making up her mind for her. So, Casey sat down at her desk and bravely ate the oatmeal and sipped the tea – both which seemed to satisfy her stomach and quiet it. It was actually a quite pleasant meal to wake up to, since it was her favorite. She'd have to thank her mother when she saw her next.

…...

After a surprisingly still-hot-and-prankless shower, Casey strolled down the stairs into the kitchen after she was done getting ready for the day. Lizzie was eating a bowl of cereal at the counter, as were Edwin and Marti. She surveyed the kitchen closely, looking for a mop head of brown hair, but the nuisance seemed to be nowhere in sight, so Casey relaxed and took a seat next to Lizzie.

"Where's mom and George?" Casey asked, noticing that both set of parentals were missing from the kitchen as well.

"George had to leave for the office early and Mom's downstairs trying to get some more sleep before she has to drive Marti to school. Apparently, she didn't sleep too well last night," Lizzie explained.

Casey nodded her head. "And where's the Devil himself?" Casey wondered out-loud, surveying the kitchen over again. She was half-convinced he was hiding away somewhere, only to scare her when she least expected it. It wouldn't surprise her if Derek was letting her fall into a false sense of security before pranking her again. Though, she just wished he would do something already! She felt like she was walking on eggshells.

"He left to go to school a while ago," Edwin spoke in-between bites.

Casey's one eyebrow shot up. "Since when does Derek ever willingly leave for school early?"

Edwin merely shrugged as he continued to shovel scoop after scoop of cereal into his mouth.

Casey frowned. Maybe Derek had an early hockey practice today, she thought to herself. Casey's eyes widened. "Shoot! He probably took the Prince!" Casey scrambled out of her seat to the front door. If she didn't leave now, she would be late for school. Derek probably deliberately didn't tell her his plans so she'd have to walk in the winter cold.

The frantic teenager put on her heavy coat and grabbed her school essentials in record time. She began to hurriedly exit the house, but stood shell-shocked on the porch when she saw the Prince still parked in the driveway.

_Weird..._

Casey fished inside her purse for her pair of keys and entered the driver's side of the vehicle warily. She found nothing amuck inside the car, such as a whoopee cushion under the seat cover or sticky glue on the steering wheel. She turned the ignition on, thinking maybe Derek only left the Prince because it was low on gas and he didn't want to fork out the money. But when Casey looked at the gas gauge, it was half full. Casey's face involuntarily scrunched up in confusion, but she decided not to think too much about it and just be thankful.

Thinking positively, she thought of getting to school, especially since she rarely ever got the opportunity to get there this early. Derek usually liked to keep Casey waiting until the last minute most mornings.

Without another thought, Casey backed out of the driveway and headed to school.

…...

When Casey entered Thompson High, it was still mildly empty. Admittedly, Casey loved school in the early mornings the most. Teachers were busy weaving inside and out of classrooms in preparation and planning. The students were still too tired to be obnoxiously loud – or at least the students who came _this_ early were – so studying was easy to attempt. The sound of murmured conversations, lockers slamming, and the heavy steps of heels hitting the tiled floors distinctively stood out throughout the halls because of the emptiness.

Enjoying the early morning atmosphere of the school, Casey happily walked down the halls to her locker. But upon opening, she noticed a single daisy flower taped to the inside door. She softly gasped. Her one hand shot over her mouth in an attempt to muffle it.

Casey reached over to unfasten it from the door and took the respective flower in her hand, regarding at it appreciatively.

"Ooh, a flower! Where did you get that from?" a voice said from behind the eldest McDonald child. Casey jumped in surprise. She turned and saw it was only Emily.

"It was in my locker," Casey stated distractedly; her focus still heavily on the white flower in her hands.

"Well, it's no rose, but I guess it's the thought that counts," Emily commented dryly.

"Daisies are my favorite flower though..."

"Oh?" Emily sounded, "Do you know who gave it to you?"

Casey shook her head. "But it has to be someone close enough to me to know that I like daises, right?"

Emily shrugged. "It could have just been a lucky guess..."

"True," Casey murmured, fingering the steam of the flower and twirling it in her hand. "This morning has just been..._unusual_..."

"Unusual?" Emily questioned. Her face then progressively lightened with eagerness. "What else happened this morning? Did Derek prank you?"

"That's the thing," Casey started, "I haven't seen Derek at all this morning. And he didn't leave any pranks – not that he would leave a prank un-witnessed anyway. But by the time I got downstairs, he was already gone."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. "That _is_ weird. Especially, since all yesterday he was dying to get you to yell at him," Emily pointed out, letting a small chuckle escape her lips as she remembered some of his attempts.

Casey scowled, remembering the day before as well. However, after remembering Derek's reactions to her there lack of, she smirked. "He really was dying, eh?"

Emily smacked her friend playfully on the arm. "You're supposed to be being nice to him!"

"I am!" Casey insisted, laughing nevertheless. "It's not my fault that even when I'm being nice that he goes off the deep end."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I will never understand you two..." she said. "Oh, so how was the rest of the day yesterday? Did Derek prank you then?"

"Derek was at practice until dinner, but even then he seemed quiet. Well, except when he somewhat insulted Noel, but that's just Derek for you."

"I forgot Noel was going to be over last night. What did Derek say to him exactly?"

"Oh, just something along the lines that Noel is prissy for writing poetry."

Emily chuckled. "That's Derek, alright. So, he seriously did nothing else?"

"Well, because of his comment, he got sent to his room, so even if he wanted to, I don't think he could have. This morning is another story though..." Casey explained, veering off then in thought. She glanced towards where Derek's locker was, but he was nowhere in sight, despite the fact that most of the students were coming in now. However, she did see Noel near-by.

"Noel!" she called out. Noel's head swung around at the sound of his name. When he saw that his caller was Casey, he started walking her way.

He smiled bashfully when he finally approached. "Hey, Casey." His eyes then flickered to her hands. "Nice flower."

Casey looked down at the flora. She had forgotten that she was still holding it. "Thanks," Casey imparted. "You didn't...?" she wondered aloud. It would make sense if Noel had been the one to give her the flower, since she did receive a mysterious bouquet after the play that she thought was Noel _then_.

Noel shook his head though. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"No," Casey answered. She pinned the flower quickly back onto the inside door to free her hands. "I just wanted to apologize on behalf of my neanderthal of a step-brother. He really doesn't know when to stop."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Noel said, waving his hand in nonchalance.

"No, really-" Casey began, but the tall boy in-front of her raised his hand for her to stop.

"Honestly," he said pointedly, "it's okay. Derek actually apologized a few minutes ago about it. Well, as best as Derek can apologize, anyway."

Casey and Emily looked at each other with their eyes and mouths wide.

"Derek? Derek Venturi? My step-brother, Derek? Apologized?" Casey interrogated in shock. Noel nodded. "That's really...unbelievable..." There really were no others words to describe it.

"Tell me about it," Noel said, chuckling.

…...

Casey did finally see Derek in their shared 3rd period. However, when he walked into the classroom, he kept his head down and avoided Casey's eyes. And once the hour was over, he was the first to scurry out of the room – though that wasn't anything new. However, Casey was getting the idea that he was avoiding her. But as Casey sat down at her lunch table, pondering the possible reasons as to _why_ he was suddenly avoiding her, Derek caught her by surprise when he sat down opposite of her.

"Hey," he greeted quietly. His voice was incredibly too small and fragile sounding to belong to the teenager in-front of her. Casey was somewhat peeved that Emily wasn't there to witness this because she wouldn't ever believe it if Casey mentioned it.

"Derek, are you okay?" Her concern was genuine. Derek didn't act this way. Not unless something was wrong.

His head shot up and he made eye-contact with her for the first time that day. It sent both a wave of relief and chills throughout her body. "Fine," he mumbled. He dropped his eyes to his hands, which were tangled around each other.

She watched him carefully, waiting, since he obviously was trying to say something, but didn't know how. Eventually, she heard him take a deep breath before he began talking again. "I just wanted to say...sorry...for my behavior yesterday..."

He looked back up at Casey, who must have looked like a deer caught in headlights, if not anything less.

"You said you wanted to stop fighting, but I didn't want to listen. I was an asshole yesterday and I put you through shit that you didn't deserve, so I'm sorry for that," he continued – now at least cursing like himself. "I guess I'll try to not fight with you anymore."

Casey held her head. Nothing was making sense at the moment. _Derek_ was instigating that they should try to get along. The only logical explanation she could conjure was that he was a pod person, or she was stuck in some alternate universe. It had to be because the Derek she knew would never be this nice to her, willingly. The Derek she knew never _apologized_ – especially twice in one day!

His gaze was drilling holes into her eyes. He was visibly waiting for _some_ response. "So, we're going to be civil?" she questioned dubiously, finally speaking. The idea seemed like a faint dream. _Was_ she dreaming?

"I guess..." he answered. "That's what you want, right?"

For the sake of her promise to Emily, Casey slowly nodded her head. She couldn't allow herself to vocalize her answer though, in fear that she would admit that she actually did enjoy their fights. That their morning relay to the bathroom was just the spark of adrenaline she needed to wake up. That his pranks were what kept her on her toes and alert. That their pointless, stupid fights were actually something she had grown to oddly crave – if she was being completely honest with herself.

"Cool..." he drawled out. He gazed everywhere but at her as he sat in silence for a couple of seconds. "Did you... enjoy your breakfast this morning?"

Casey sniggered. "Are you _that_ desperate for a topic to converse to me in?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. His adam's apple bobbled noticeably along his throat. "Well, it's the first time I've made that tea thing, so I just wanted to make sure it didn't taste horrible…"

"Wait," Casey said, holding up a finger in thought. Derek stared at her with curious eyes. "_You_ made me my breakfast this morning?"

Derek nodded. And as she studied his face – dare she say – looked sheepish?

"Did you put something nasty in it?" she inquired. She wasn't being ungrateful, but she did have the right to know if she should expect a trip to the bathroom any time soon.

"No!" Derek hollered, "I promise. I didn't. Nothing in the oatmeal either, I swear!" He took a finger and made a crossing motion over his heart. "It's just, you made me my favorite breakfast yesterday, and so I thought I would return the favor!" he further explained.

"How did you know it was my favorite breakfast?" Casey couldn't help but wonder. To memory, she never recalled proclaiming such a fact about herself. Was he trying to take credit for something her mother could have easily done?

"Please, princess, I know you better than you think." And just like that, his whole demeanor seemed to shift back to that of her Derek, smirk included. Not- not that he was _hers_, but the Derek she was used to. "You _always _eat it on days when you have a 'big' test or another 'big' event, so it will jump-start your day on a good note, no?"

To say Casey was stunned was an understatement. "You're correct," she answered, almost mutely. Derek grinned victoriously.

"Well, then, thank you. It was...really good." She gave Derek a small, maybe it was a little forced, smile. This whole being nice to him thing was just as new as it was for him to her.

"Good," he said simply, with a nod. "And did you like the... flower?" he asked, coughing out the last word.

If Casey had been drinking anything, she definitely would have spat it out. The pod person theory was definitely looking good at this point.

"That was you, too!?"

"Well, yeah. Who else do you know can break into school lockers?"

"Derek," she started softly, pursing her lips, "not that I'm not appreciating the kindness and endeavors, but couldn't you have just said sorry and then have been nice to me? Why the big effort?"

Suddenly flustered again, Derek opened and closed his mouth a few times. He resembled a fish so much Casey wanted to snicker, but she held it in. "You mean I _didn't_ have to go all-out just to get you to forgive me?" He finally voiced. Casey shook her head and Derek swore under his breath. This caused Casey to finally laugh.

"Hey, I don't appreciate my _unnecessary_ acts of kindness being laughed at!" he hollered, wagging his pointer finger at her. Casey knew he was doing it lightheartedly though, if the massive grin on his face meant anything.

Casey's laughing evened out. "You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you for all you've done for me today. I really do appreciate it."

"And thanks for letting me know I was wasting my time," Derek wisecracked. "I was about to give you a Derek-free day, too. But I guess now you're stuck with me!" He cooed and then leaned over the table to pinch Casey's cheek lightly as if she was a child.

Casey playfully swatted his hand away. "I thought you said we were going to be civil?"

"Neither of us are screaming nor attacking the other's throat," Derek pointed out, shrugging. "I consider that very civil." He winked at her.

Casey pouted. "I guess the Derek that made me breakfast and left me a flower was nice while it lasted..."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know another Derek? Because I don't recall such a thing." His lips curved further upwards, increasing his smirk. Casey couldn't help but mirror the expression as their eyes locked in a heavy, sportive stare.

"Hey, guys!" Emily chirped as she sat down beside Derek.

The two step-siblings broke their gazes at their neighbor's greeting.

"Well, I guess I'll be going," Derek said, getting up from the seat as he spoke. His eyes flickered to Casey's for a moment before he looked over at his usual lunch table. "Sam and Ralph have been waiting for a while..."

"Of course," Casey agreed. "You don't want to keep them waiting too much longer. Ralph looks like he's about to drive Sam up a wall, so you should probably save him."

Derek chuckled. "Right, so...see-ya..." he dipped his head down as a farewell and made to walk away.

"Wait!" Casey instinctively shouted. Derek instantly faced her at the sound. "Would you like to eat with us?" Derek hiked an eyebrow at this as he regarded her oddly – not that she blamed him. She didn't even know what possessed her to do this. "You can even invite Sam and Ralph if you want..."

Derek crossed his arms and then looked over at his friends then back at Casey. "Okay," he agreed slowly. "But that also means that your sandwich is half-mine! I'll go get the guys."

When he turned his back to go to his table, Casey rolled her eyes, but nevertheless grinned. She looked up, however, to find Emily watching her in bemusement.

"What?" Casey demanded lightly.

"Inviting Derek to eat with us?"

Casey shrugged. "I didn't think you'd have a problem with it..."

"Oh, _I_ don't have a problem with it. It's just that yesterday you were ready to hose the boy down the stairwell, but today...?" Emily cheekily grinned. "Why the change of heart?"

Casey sat dumbstruck. She felt she could only blame it on sporadic word vomit. However, what's done was done. She couldn't retract her offer now anyway without it coming across as rude. Plus, she was oddly enjoying herself when she and Derek were talking moments before and part of her wanted to see if she could continue it.

"He apologized," Casey eventually stated, breaking herself from her thoughts. "I offered him to eat with us, so that he'd realize I wasn't holding anything against him."

Emily stared at her doubtfully.

"I was just being polite," Casey further asserted.

Emily hummed. "Sure you were."

* * *

**A/N: **So Derek went really extreme on the niceness at first, eh? lol. PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know how you thought of this chapter. This is one of my least favorite. It feels more filler than anything, but it was kinda necessary, I felt.

REVIEW REPLY:

CocoaCollidoscope: Haha, that would actually be hilarious for Derek to do. Maybe I'll write that in eventually if I remember. Thanks for reviewing!

DC2012: Thanks for reviewing!

lifewithdaseyy: Thanks for reviewing!

othfan67: I ship them really bad too. lol. It's hard not to. ;) And I LOVE the twilight zone line from last chapter. I don't know why, but once I wrote it I just loved it instantly. And I think they mentioned on the show before that she can't lie well. It might have been the 'Lies My Brother Told Me' episode where they lie about the dog, but I'm not postive. Thanks for reviewing!

CatzzCK: I liked Noel more than Truman, obviously. Maybe a little more than Max. But that's it. lol. Thanks for reviewing!

Harmonious Wolf: Thanks for reviewing!

VeVe2491: Glad you liked Sam in the last chapter. I'm oddly enjoy writing him for some reason. lol. He's like Derek's voice of reason when he doesn't have Casey. :P And we'll see just how much Edwin and Lizzie do or don't know in future chapters. Thanks for reviewing!

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Thanks for reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

It was just after dinner and Casey still found herself sitting at the dining room table. Only now, she was studying for an English test, rather than eating. However, _attempting_ to study may have described her situation better. She was reading the text, her eyes following the lines down the page, but once she'd reach the bottom it seems she had not soaked in any of the information.

Her mind was too preoccupied. It kept flicking back to various parts of the day, especially lunch. Casey bit her lip to cover a developing smile as she thought back. Besides making her breakfast and leaving her a flower that morning, Derek hadn't done anything else extravagant. And while he still managed to tease her throughout the entire lunch period (pulling at her hair, stealing her food, etc), he had actually been _sweet_ – in a Derek sort of way. It was in his voice and actions that struck Casey as different. Everything he did was light in humor and fun – playful, even – rather than in its usual malevolence or loathing. He even threw her trash away for her, flashing her this dazzling grin, like he actually didn't mind.

Casey even began to realize why Derek was so popular and well-liked. He was..._fun_. He actually wasn't _terrible_ to spend time with. He came up with very interesting things to talk about and they all shared a lot laughs.

Casey then frowned as she tucked her legs around the ones of the chair. Maybe these past feuding years really had been her fault instead of Derek's. Maybe if she wasn't so uptight and regulated, he would have treated her like he had today – almost like a friend. Maybe Emily was right. Maybe she was too preoccupied with herself and her wants that she never gave Derek a proper chance…

The front door then slowly opened and in snailed the boy himself. His hair was a wet, tangled mess and his shoulders were held stiffly high, wincing every time he moved an inch further into the room. His eyes were half-opened and his small steps were clumsy. As he finally managed to close the front door, he let his hockey bag roll off his arm and onto the floor below with a huge thud. He contently sighed, letting his eyes close fully at the sudden relief.

When he finally opened his eyes back up, they seemed to immediately lock with Casey's and she suddenly had the urge to blush. She quickly diverted her gaze back to her textbook and cleared her throat. "Difficult practice?" she questioned. She turned the page of her textbook, like she had actually been reading it.

"_The worst!_" he complained. Casey could hear his feet shuffling slowly against the hardwood towards the couch, eventually hearing the air in the cushions give as he collapsed onto them. "I have no energy left. Luckily, I took my shower at the rink because I don't even think I could climb the stairs right now!" Casey wrinkled her nose just at the possibility of what the stank could have been and thankful she didn't have to experience it. "I don't even know how I drove home," Derek continued, though it was slightly muffled with a yawn.

She heard him sigh and moan some more as he tried to make himself somewhat comfortable on the couch. "And I'm _starving_," he further complained, his stomach growled loudly to comply shortly after. Casey could picture the small pout he was no-doubtfully wearing.

Casey bit her lip as she toyed with the pencil in her hands. She was pondering whether or not to cater to him. If it had been her mother or Lizzie, or even George, Edwin, or Marti, she probably wouldn't have even thought about fixing them a plate and just done it. However, this was Derek and they didn't usually do that stuff for each other. She was torn. _But_, she had to be nice to Derek, and Derek was actually being somewhat nice back recently, so maybe she should?

Derek's stomach rumbled again, and when he made no effort to fill it, Casey knew that he truly was too exhausted.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she promptly abandoned her seat and entered the kitchen to prepare Derek a plate of the leftovers from dinner.

…

When the food was finally all heated up and ready to serve, Casey walked the food into the living room. Her hockey playing step-brother was still splayed out on the couch, but now his eyes were closed and he was evenly breathing – sleeping.

Casey sighed before extending a finger to poke him lightly on the shoulder. "Derek?"

He groaned, keeping his eyes shut. "Derek?" she attempted again, this time using her entire hand as she prodded him.

He lifted his one hand briefly, making a small motion, as if swatting her away. "Sleep," he mumbled.

"_Okay_..." she mockingly exasperated and made a noted step backwards. "And to think: all this food is just going to get cold and go to waste...Lizzie will sure have something to say about that..."

As if on cue, Derek cracked one eye tentatively open in interest. His gaze immediately saw the plate balanced on Casey's left hand, and quickly both his eyes were open in a pleasant surprise. He proceeded to lift himself so he could lean his back against the couch arm and reach for the food, his fingers wiggling greedily.

Casey laughed as she handed him the plate, then took a seat on his recliner thereafter to amusingly watch.

Derek didn't waste any time before devouring the dinner – moaning and groaning in satisfaction. "Thank you!" he exclaimed in-between bites. "I could kiss you right now," he continued before shoving another forkful into his mouth.

Casey's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open reflexively at his admission.

Derek progressively slowed his chewing. He then forced himself to swallow whatever food that was remaining in his mouth, before he completely stilled. After a calculated time passed, he tore his gaze from his plate and glanced at Casey, who now just had her eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"_Could_," he stressed quickly, "not-not that I actually would though..." Clearing his throat, Derek turned back to his plate.

Casey bit her lip, trying to will the blush creeping up her neck not to surface on her face.

A thick silence hung between them and the pressure seemed impermeable. Sensing this, Casey quickly rose from her seat. "I'm-just-I'm-going to go," she stuttered, pointing to the dinner table to indicate what she couldn't put into words, and hurriedly went to her destination.

"Yeah, you...do that," Derek commented lamely.

Casey quickly took her seat back at the dining room table. Her hands were shaking and her heart was racing and her breathing was irregular. All because of the incident she just encountered with Derek. In an attempt to get a hold of herself, Casey began performing some therapeutic breathing exercises.

She had no idea why she was reacting the way she was. Derek just said something stupid – not like that was uncommon. What he said wasn't that bad either. It was something people said all the time. He probably would have said it to Edwin or anyone else if they had gotten him food. He was merely showing his gratitude. It surely didn't mean Derek would _actually_ kiss her if he could. Did it?

Casey's thoughts were broken as she heard the television turn on. She noted that Derek immediately flipped the station to a hockey game.

No. Casey was just over-thinking once again. She was just reading _way_ too much into the situation. Derek would never kiss her. He may have been nicer to her that day, but kissing was in a whole different arena she knew Derek would never step in – not that she wanted him to.

Resolutely, Casey pushed the incident to the back of her mind and tried to restart her studying.

"Noooooo!" Casey heard Derek exclaimed from the couch a few minutes later, raising his fist up angrily at the TV set. The chorus of boo's could be heard from the audience at the game as well.

"What happened?" Casey inquired, her curiosity getting the best of her. She got up from her seat so she could see the television better.

Derek craned his neck backwards into the cushion to glance at Casey. When he made eye-contact, he quickly turned his head back to the game. "Flyers scored."

"Oh..." Casey voiced, trying to make sense of what Derek said but failing. What were these 'Flyers'? And why was he so mad over them scoring? "Why is that bad?" Casey questioned. "Aren't the teams supposed to score…the touchdowns?"

Derek chuckled, sending her an amused smile. "You score _goals_ in hockey, Case, not touchdowns." Casey blushed at how foolish she must have sounded. "And it's bad because the Flyers are the opposing team. The home team is the Leafs – the team you want to win."

"I see," Casey spoke, walking over to Derek's chair to sit. She began to watch the screen intriguingly. What was it about this violent game could make Derek react so fervently? "And which one is the Leaves? Which color?"

"_Leafs_, Case. Not Leaves," he corrected her, laughing some more, but not in patronizing way. "And they are wearing the blue jerseys – see, they even have a huge maple leaf on the front," Derek explained, pointing a finger to the screen to further show her. "And the other team, the Flyers, is wearing the white. Got it?"

Casey nodded her head. "The fact that they are called the Leafs and not the Leaves is bothering me though. It's not grammatically correct," she mumbled to herself, but Derek must have heard her because she saw him shaking his head and whispering 'keener' to himself humorously, yet affectionately? Casey shook her head. That wasn't likely.

They continued to watch in a reasonable silence, which brought relief to Casey, considering the awkwardness that they were in only minutes before. It only justified the fact that Casey had been overreacting to Derek's 'kiss' comment and was making it a bigger deal than it really was.

However, she was soon distracted from the screen when she felt the sensation of someone watching her. In her peripherals she could tell that Derek was looking at her now, rather than the game. She turned to face him, "What?" she queried softly.

He looked a bit started by her sudden question, but then relaxed. "Nothing," he claimed simply, immediately directing his gaze back to the TV screen. Casey raised an eyebrow, but let it drop without further interrogation.

A few more minutes passed by, but Casey still couldn't quite figure out what was going on. She thought maybe she should try to go back to studying, but she already knew that her mind was too restless for a task like that. It was frustrating though. She couldn't properly study like she wanted, but she also couldn't understand a minute of this sport!

"So, basically the object of this game is to get that flat ball into one of those huge nets more times than the other team?" Casey asked.

"Yup," Derek confirmed which made Casey feel somewhat proud. She felt like she wasn't a complete dunce about hockey like she had been originally thinking. "Though the 'flat ball' you're referring to is actually called a 'puck'," he continued, smirking.

All too quickly Casey felt humiliated once more, her cheeks glowing with a soft pink hue. Casey didn't like not knowing things, even something trivial as sports.

"Puck," she repeated, trying to remember the term for future reference. "Got it."

"Don't you know _anything_ about hockey?" Derek honestly questioned, positioning his body so he was fully facing her; one leg tucked in on the couch, while the other hung over the side. Casey shook her head. "Canadians are practically injected with hockey knowledge as babies. You're going to tell me you know nothing about it?"

"I guess they missed this baby," Casey replied, pointing to herself.

"You didn't even pick up anything from all the times you went to my games?" Derek expressed disbelievingly. "I mean, you're not dumb, Case, you should have been able to pick up _some_ lingo or concept."

Casey smiled softly at Derek's small compliment, but quickly dipped her head, a tad ashamed. "Truthfully, I never _actually_ watched your games. I'd just study my notecards or something while you guys played," she admitted.

She watched as Derek's face swiftly morphed from amusement to disappointment. "Oh," he quietly muttered, before turning his body and attention back to the game, though even then he didn't look like he was concentrating on that.

Casey raised an eyebrow at Derek's strange behavior. He was acting like he was upset that she didn't watch him play. But that couldn't be true, right? This was the same boy who always made such a big hassle over her attending these said games because he claimed she was bad luck. Why would he care whether she actually watched or not?

Regardless, he was brooding – his eyebrows were hunched downwards, his arms were crossed, and he was slouching more than usual. These were the subtle, nonverbal clues that Derek was upset about something. Guilt swept over Casey. She didn't want him to be upset at her, especially not after the nice day they had. She bit her lip as she contemplated on what to do.

"I'm sorry I never watched any of your games," Casey eventually opted to say moments later, "I always thought that you never wanted me to."

Derek didn't respond. He was ignoring her.

"Can you teach me then?"

Casey watched as Derek's brows furrow up and down as he debated whether to reply to her or not. "Teach you what?" Derek sullenly asked, now acknowledging her but was still refusing to look at her.

"Teach me about hockey…" Casey elaborated. "Well, as long as you don't start teaching me terms like 'fling-flong' and 'groin kick' again," she quickly added as an afterthought.

Derek's face involuntarily broke out into a small grin, probably recalling the memory. Casey smiled as well, feeling triumphant that she was able to get him to smile again.

"As funny as that would be, I wouldn't," Derek promised, finally looking at her. "Football is a stupid sport to begin with, but hockey – hockey is the ultimate sport. I'm not going to have any step-sister of mine not know how hockey works on my watch. I'm doing a noble service by helping you learn it. I hope you know that!"

"I appreciate it greatly, oh hockey guru."

"Are you being sassy, McDonald?" Derek accused and wiggled his eyebrows at her comically.

"Just telling the truth, Venturi," Casey insisted, shrugging her shoulders with a lazy smile on her face.

"Damn right," Derek boasted, winking at Casey. "Come here," Derek then instructed, patting the cushion next to him on the couch. "It'll be easier to point things out to you if you're closer," he reasoned.

Casey hesitated for a moment, but brushed the peculiar feelings and thoughts to the side. This was Derek for crying out loud. She was acting foolishly paranoid, so much that she almost snickered to herself as she took the seat Derek directed her to. Derek was just being nice.

"Ask what you want to know," Derek told her, referencing to the screen. Casey nodded her head and began to watch the game.

However, a minute in, the game cut to commercial and Derek left to get some snacks. He came back with two drinks – one for her and one for him – and a bowl of popcorn. She gave him a grateful smile as she took the drink he had gotten for her. He sat back down just as the last commercial ended, but this time he was a lot closer than before.

When he had left, they had both been on their own respected cushion, but somehow they both had gravitated towards the middle, their sides brushing against each other, yet not quite permanently touching. It wasn't like the closeness was uncomfortable – quite the opposite really. It was actually a reasonable distance, compared to the day before when his arm was constantly around her shoulders. Even then, she felt unexpectedly relaxed after the first initial wave of awkward tension passed.

"Popcorn?" Derek offered, sticking the bowl towards her. Casey surmised that he must not have realized how close they were, since his face was impassive. Casey let herself smile and reached for a couple pieces of the white snack.

As Casey chowed down on her popped kernel, she couldn't help but wonder about Derek's sudden change in behavior. Sure she rapidly changed how she treated Derek, but she was the lesser of the two evils to begin with. Plus, Emily had more or less challenged her to be nice to Derek. So, why was Derek suddenly being nice? He had seemed pretty motivated the day before to get her to argue. Where did that inclination suddenly go? It surely didn't just evaporate into thin air and Derek surely didn't give up (Derek always got what he wanted).

"Helloooo!" Derek hollered, waving a hand in-front of her face. "How are you supposed to learn if you're not paying attention and asking questions? And you call yourself a good student!" Derek lightheartedly mused, poking her in the side.

Casey giggled, squirming at the tickling sensation. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized. "I'll watch."

…

"What's high-sticking?" Casey asked after a player on the Leafs had gotten penalized for it. The game was in the 3rd period with only 10 minutes left of playtime.

"It's when the hockey stick goes above the players head," Derek clarified.

"Well that's kinda ridiculous," Casey stated.

"Like most penalties, it's merely a safety precaution. You don't want someone lifting their stick too high and hitting someone in the eye."

"Ohhh, that makes sense now. Though I still think it's stupid to have a whole penalty for it. Players should just know not to do it," Casey reasoned.

"But if it wasn't a rule, more players would play dirty. At least with a penalty for it, players have to watch themselves, or else they serve their time," Derek pointed out.

"Do you play dirty?" she asked, veering her eyes away from the screen to Derek's form.

Derek looked over to her as well. "When you say dirty…" he started.

"I mean when you play hockey!" she insisted, blushing at what he was instigating. Derek laughed at her flushed face. She was too easy to embarrass; it wasn't fair.

"Yeah, sometimes. Only if the other team is playing dirty though. You gotta level the playing field. Can't let them get away with too much," Derek finally answered her, after he stopped laughing.

"But it's against the rules."

"Only if you get caught," Derek confessed, smirking arrogantly.

"Derek!" a voice shrilled behind the duo. Recognizing it as his father's voice, Derek rolled his eyes.

They could hear George rounding his way to the couch. "I thought I told you that this week you couldn't go on any da-" But George stopped midsentence when he caught sight of Casey. "-tes," he lamely finished.

Nora appeared at George's side then and they both looked puzzlingly down at the two high-schoolers, peering at their closeness. "Uh, hey, Casey. I didn't realize that was you…"

Casey politely smiled at her step-father. "Not a problem."

"What are you two doing though?" Nora wondered aloud. George and Nora were looking at them like they had sprouted another head.

"I wanted to learn more about hockey, so Derek's teaching me," Casey answered. She could see Derek smiling proudly next to her.

"Oh…okay," Nora expressed breathlessly. "Well, it's nice to see you two getting along…"

George was still staring at the two closely, as if he was getting ready to interrogate a witness in court. "Yeahhh," he drawled out, "Almost too good to be true – Derek you're not teaching Casey the wrong stuff, are you?" George suddenly questioned.

"Have you no faith in me, Dad?" Derek asked. George raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Derek sighed, "I promise, I'm teaching her the right things."

"Good! And it better stay that way," George stressed, pointedly looking at Derek to show he was serious.

Nora rubbed her husband's back to try and calm him. "We're going to the store. We'll be back soon," she told the two teenagers as she walked over to the door, pulling George behind her.

When front door shut, Derek let out a short cackle. "Man, they make it look like us getting along is a sign of the apocalypse."

Casey laughed. "My mom's probably going to ask me about it later."

"My dad will grill me about it too."

"My mom will probably figure I'm only learning hockey for a boy, like I did football for Max," Casey admitted, shaking her head at her mother's logic.

Derek was quiet then. "Are you?" he asked timidly. "You know, only here so you can learn this for some other guy? I mean, you never just sat down and watched a game with me before."

Casey paused, trying to read this complex boy in-front of her. He almost looked downcast at the possibility, yet parts of his eyes were hopeful. Hopeful for what though?

"No, I really want to know," Casey honestly assured, trying to convey with her eyes that she wasn't just using him to get another guy. Though, as weird as it was, she was technically learning hockey for Derek's benefit. She thought if he was the one that taught her about hockey, that he would forgive her for not watching his games. "Plus, I can't be a proper Canadian without it, right?"

"Good, I mean, right…right..." Derek spoke, chuckling over his fumble.

They continued to stare at each other. Derek was looking at her from under his long eye-lashes with a great intensity. Casey couldn't explain why, but suddenly she found Derek's chocolate eyes very magnetizing, drawing her in and sweetening her soul. A genuine smile spread across his face. Not one of his smirks, but an actual cheek-wrinkling smile that Casey had only ever associated with Derek. She couldn't help but smile back timidly.

She wasn't sure if it was the proximity or the bizarreness of this moment that was messing with her brain or not, but it almost seemed like Derek really did want to kiss her, despite his denial earlier that evening. The question was: would she let him if he did?

A buzzer than loudly rang from the TV signally someone scored, causing both of them to jump, inevitably breaking them out of their heavy gaze. Derek turned his head to the TV screen to see what had happened and Casey followed his lead, trying to distract herself from thinking certain thoughts about a certain step-brother.

They silently watched the last two minutes of the game together. Silently being the operative word. It seemed like they were back to that awkwardness from earlier.

When the period finally ended, leaving the Leafs defeated by one, they both slowly got up from their seats and climbed up the stairs. They both stopped in front of their bedroom doors to look over at the other. Casey knew she wanted to say _something_, _anything_, to break the tension, but her mouth didn't seem to want to open. They finally opted to politely nodding goodnight to the other before going into their own rooms.

* * *

**A/N:** I really loved this chapter. It was one of my favorites to write. For some reason I loved writing Casey talking about sports! So, please, review and let me know your favorite parts of this chapter!

REVIEW REPLY:

SweetCake773: Thanks for reviewing!

Ella1989: Thanks for reviewing!

VeVe2491: Thanks for reviewing!

Bubblespryte: You do bring up an interesting question! lol. We'll see what some other people are thinking in another chapter or so. Thanks for reviewing!

Guest: Thanks for reviewing! So glad you're liking the story so much. :)

CatzzCK: I feel so bad. I saw your review and I was like 'Noooo, I'm not doing a lunch scene!' XD I just felt like lunch wasn't really important to the story so I didn't include it. Hopefully, you weren't put off too much by that. Thanks for reviewing though.

Lady Azura: Thanks for reviewing!

Georgina: Thanks for reviewing!

countryfan4life: well, Derek's supposed to be out of character a bit. He's was trying to show Casey that he could be just as good as guys like Noel, if not better, while also trying to make up for the pranks he pulled on her the day before. lol. And Derek is doing this whole thing in an effort to pursue Casey. Thanks for reviewing!

Dark-Supernatual-Angel: Like I wrote to CatzzCK, I didn't write the lunch scene because I didn't think it needed to be written about to push the story along. I actually contemplated trying to figure out if I could fit it in, but in the end, it just didn't work out. Sorry, but thanks for reviewing.

xXxAlilordessxXx: Thanks for reviewing!

othfan67: Thanks for reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7

Just wanted to let you know that the POV changes a couple times in the beginning then stays with Derek. It shouldn't be confusing, but just in case you are: your warning. :)

* * *

"Hey," Emily greeted, as she strolled up next to Casey the following morning. "I tried calling both your house and cell phone last night, but no one was answering."

"Really? Sorry, Em," Casey apologized. She hadn't even noticed that she had missed any calls. "I was downstairs in the living room all night and I left my cellphone upstairs. I don't remember the house phone ringing though…"

"It's alright. I wasn't calling for anything important," Emily assured, leaning against the locker next to Casey's. "What were you doing downstairs? Studying, _again_!" she lightly teased.

"A little bit," Casey admitted, laughing at her predictable self. She began switching books from her locker to her bag. "And then I watched some hockey with Derek…" Casey continued, trying to make the statement come across casually, as if it was no big deal. Why should it be anyway?

"Wait," Emily said, holding up her hand as she gathered her thoughts, "you _willingly_ watched hockey – _a sport!_ – with _Derek_?" Emily then took the hand she was holding up and pressed it against Casey's forehead.

"Stop!" Casey hollered, swatting the hand away. "It was nothing. I was done studying and had nothing to do. He was watching hockey on TV, so I joined him. Alright?"

"_Sureee_," Emily said, but by her tone she obviously didn't believe her. "So give me the deets!"

Casey looked over at her friend shyly. "I might...have asked...him to teach me about...hockey…"

ooo

"Casey wanted to learn _hockey_? She was watching _hockey_?" Sam asked incredulously. "She didn't even do that when we were dating!"

Derek propped up the collar of his leather jacket. "What can I say?" Derek replied, shrugging nonchalantly, though he was radiating with joy.

"So, do you believe my theory now?" Sam wondered. "'Cause you got to admit, she was showing _major_ signs last night that she's into you!"

"I don't know…" Derek told his friend unsurely, nervously playing with the end of his leather jacket; his previous confidence exponentially dwindling. He chose then to steal a glance at Casey. It looked like she was getting grilled about something from Emily. As Casey rolled her eyes at something their neighbor said, her eyes caught Derek's for a moment. Derek smiled in an attempt to keep things light, but Casey quickly deflected her eyes to the ground.

Derek dejectedly sighed as he turned to his friend. "After everything that happened last night, things are kinda awkward. We didn't even speak at breakfast this morning or on the way to school..."

"Why?! What would make things awkward?" Sam wondered, "'Cause from just what you told me, she was totally flirting with you last night!"

ooo

"Emily, we were not flirting!" Casey proclaimed ghastly. The older McDonald girl couldn't believe that Emily would think their interactions from last night could have been labeled as flirting!

Emily rolled her eyes at her naïve friend. "_Right_…."

"We weren't!" Casey insisted.

"What's that river in Egypt?"

"I'm not in denial," Casey asserted. "I was just being nice, and so was Derek. That's it."

It was safe to say that Casey had been freaking out ever since last night. Casey had already analyzed everything that happened that night, including all the things Derek did earlier that day, and each conclusion seemed to end at some impossible, outlandish outcome. Even worse, everything Emily had been instigating was planting crazy thoughts in Casey's head, if not watering the seeds Casey had already placed there herself. She couldn't even look at Derek without feeling guilty about her thoughts because they had to be so so false, right?

Emily began to open her mouth to rebut, but Casey cut her off. "I'm going to homeroom," Casey hastily proclaimed, speeding by Emily before she could stop her. She couldn't take anymore of Emily reinforcing her crazy thoughts because then she might start to believe them.

ooo

"You took my advice!" someone hollered excitedly right near Derek's ear, swatting him quite harshly on the arm in the process.

"OW!" Derek cried out, covering his wounded ear with one hand and rubbing his arm with the other. He looked over to the perpetrator to find it was Emily. "Jeeze, Davis! Are you trying to kill me?"

She merely shook her head. She was bouncing on the balls of feet, grinning madly like the Joker. Derek took a hesitant step back, a tad frightened by his neighbor at the moment.

"You took my advice!" she repeated again, though, thankfully, this time in a lower decibel. "You're being nicer to Casey!"

"_Actually_," Sam spoke up, "he took _my _advice."

Emily pouted. She crossed her arms as she turned to Derek. "_Oh_, so you'll listened to Sam, but you won't listen to me? What did he say that I didn't?"

"That Casey might like him back," Sam chirped in before Derek could say a word.

"SAM!" Derek yelled, shooting daggers at his best friend. Not only was Emily Casey's best friend, but she was also Thompson's gossip queen! Casey would know by next period if not sooner.

Emily snorted. "Please, Derek. I've had my suspicions for a long time. This isn't news."

Derek's mouth dropped open in shock. "...how...?"

"You're not very subtle sometimes, Derek. Sam's only giving me the concrete proof I've been waiting for," she explained, then flashed Sam a wide smile. "Thanks, Sam." Sam grinned back, nodding his welcome.

"Great!" Derek groaned and turned to hit his head on the locker nearby. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," he kept reciting each time his head hit the locker. Why hadn't anyone told him he was being so obvious? What if he was so obvious last night that Casey found out and that was why she hadn't been speaking to him?

Emily rolled her eyes. She took Derek's shoulders and forced him to stop his foolish act and face her. "Relax," she commanded, "Casey is clueless and completely oblivious to your major crush on her."

Derek felt reasonably better with that information, but only slightly. "Emily, you have to promise to not tell Casey." Derek clasped his hands together, pleading to her. If he needed, he'd gladly get on his knees.

"I won't," Emily promised. "But only if you tell me exactly what happened last night. Casey only told me bits, but I can tell she didn't tell me everything because she was acting weirder than her usual Casey weirdness."

"Well...?" Emily pressed when Derek remained quiet.

Derek sighed, but decided he might as well.

"Uh...I don't know," Derek began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he tried to think of what to say. "I came home from practice. Casey heated me up some food..." He quickly glanced at his neighbor only to see her nodding him encouragingly along. "Did she tell you that I made a stupid 'kiss' comment?"

Emily's eyes seemed to pop out like the ones in cartoons. "What 'kiss' comment?!" she half-whispered excitedly.

Derek mentally scolded himself. Of course Casey wouldn't have said anything about that. She probably didn't even tell Emily about the moment where they almost kissed. Casey either didn't realize that Derek was a moment away from kissing her or she was so despised of the idea that she refused to acknowledge it happened; Derek believed the latter was more believable.

"I – well Casey gave me my dinner and...I sorta said 'I could kiss you right now' –" Derek was cut off by a piercing squeal from Emily. Derek and Sam covered their ears, as well as some of the bystanders close enough. The rest of the hall shot Emily curious stares.

"Emily!" Derek shouted, shooting her a wild glare.

Emily quickly covered her mouth and mumbled an apology. "This is just too good! How did Casey react?"

"She just got quiet. It was awkward for awhile."

"And then you eventually taught her about hockey?" Emily questioned. Derek nodded. "Anything else happen between you two last night?"

"Nope," Derek answered, plopping the 'p'. If Emily's reaction to a comment about a kiss was bad, Derek never wanted to witness what would happen if she found out he and Casey were close to actually kissing.

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Sam commented, smirking. Derek's eyes widened as he turned to his best friend, beseeching with his eyes for Sam not to tell Emily anything more.

Emily also turned to Sam. "What? What happened? Please, Sam, _please_! Tell me!" she frantically asked.

"Sam!" Derek growled, his tone a clear warning.

Apparently the warning wasn't clear enough for Sam though because he continued. "Derek almost kissed Casey."

Derek immediately covered his ears to prevent the slaughter to his eardrums, but this time (of course) Emily hadn't made a sound. She merely stood in her place, mouth agape and eyes wide open; she looked like a little kid who just got handed every present they wanted for Christmas.

Derek slowly removed his hands from his ears and waved them both in front of Emily's face to break her out of whatever trace she was in. "Emily?"

Emily snapped out it, quickly grabbing both of Derek's hands as she jumped up and down in excitement, squealing, again. Derek groaned, ripping his hands from his neighbors'. He wanted to hide; he looked at his locker, contemplating if he'd even fit. He made to leave next, but Sam grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back in place.

"Well," Emily spoke after her squeal fest, "why didn't you kiss her!?"

"We heard the buzzer go off on the TV and it broke us out of whatever thing we were in..." Derek hurriedly explained; he hated talking about this stuff. Why'd he agree to tell Emily all of this? Oh, right, she might tell Casey his feelings if he didn't. "You can't let her know that I told you this though! If I'm lucky, she might not have realized it..."

"Fine, fine. Take out all my fun," Emily quipped sadly, but she was still somehow beaming from the news.

It then dawned on Derek that maybe Emily not only knew _his _feelings for Casey, but _Casey's_ feelings towards him as well. "Hey, you know, your Casey's best friend, right? And Casey tells you things...?"

"Where are you going with this, Derek?" Emily asked dryly, hands on her hips.

Derek gulped, suddenly queasy. What if he didn't like her answer? "Can you just tell me if Casey likes me back or not?"

"Oh, Derek," Emily started, her face crumbled and sympathy laced her words. "I can't do that. That's totally breaking the girl code, not to mention betraying my best friend's trust. An absolute no no."

"Here that, Sam," Derek pointedly grumbled. Sam smiled innocently like he had done nothing of the sort minutes before.

"Sorry, Derek," Emily apologized. She squeezed his shoulder affectionately, as if the notion was supposed to make him feel better. It didn't. "Don't give up though," she said as she departed, leaving Derek somewhat optimistic.

...

Derek walked towards the cafeteria fully intending to talk to Casey right away. He couldn't stand another minute without talking to her. He needed to understand where her head was and whether he could get things back to normal – at least their normal as of yesterday.

As he reached the cafeteria doors, he scoped out Casey's lunch table and found her sitting alone, setting out her meal. Derek strode over to her, trying hard not to think of the possible, pessimistic outcomes that might occur. He picked up his pace slightly; he didn't want enough time to chicken out.

When he reached the end of the table, he cleared his throat to gain his step-sister's attention.

She looked up at him, surprised. "Hi," she greeted quietly.

"Is this seat taken?" Derek asked, gesturing with his hand to the seat across from Casey.

"You want to eat here again?" Casey questioned dubiously.

Derek cracked a grin as he took the seat. "Well, I've been eating here all week. Might as well stick to the pattern, eh?"

"I guess," Casey replied. She dipped her head downward as she stabbed her salad with her fork, which consequently caused some of her hair to curtain her face. But even so, Derek swore he saw her smile softly.

However, her head remained low, continuing to look at her food and not him. Derek internally groaned. "Did I do something wrong, Case?"

Her head shot up. "No!" she insisted. "Why would you think that?"

"We haven't said a word to each other since last night. You seem like you don't even want to look at me.. Did I do something to make you made or...?"

"No...I'm just...I don't know. It's not you it's -"

"Don't seriously tell me you were about to feed me the 'it's not you it's me' line." Derek chuckled. "I think you can get a little more original than _that_, Spacey!"

Casey rolled her eyes, but laughed along as well. "Sorry...I, I don't know. It's complicated. I've just been in my own head all day...I wasn't avoiding you or anything."

Derek felt a weight on his chest suddenly lift. He smirked. "Good. So, I guess that means we'll watch hockey when I come home tonight like last night?"

Casey's eyes bulged. "We will?" she squeaked.

Derek nodded. "You wanted to learn hockey," he pointed out. "One session isn't going to cut it. It's like with your studying thing. You don't just read your notes once, right?"

"Right..." Casey agreed slowly. Derek couldn't tell whether she was gradually growing to the idea or at least saw enough sense in his statement to agree. Nevertheless, he was excited that they'd be spending some more time together tonight, though Derek vowed to try to avoid making any non-friendly moves on Casey this time. It seemed to have caused a Casey freakout, if the awkwardness from last night to now meant anything. Derek realized if Casey did have any non-brotherly/friendly feelings for him, she'd have to take the first step. He wasn't going to jeopardize this good thing between them right now, even though he wanted a lot more.

"So, are we cool?" Derek asked, sticking out his hand for her to shake if she agreed.

Casey peered at his outstretched hand for a moment, before directing her gaze directly into his eyes. His heart lurched at the sudden eye-contact. "We're cool," she smiled shyly, shaking his hand lightly.

Derek smiled genuinely back, however it quickly turned cheeky. "Now, do you have money I can borrow because I forgot my lunch this morning..."

Casey bit the inside of her cheek to try and prevent herself from smiling, but despite herself, a laugh escaped her lips. She comically rolled her eyes as she handed him enough money to get lunch. "Same ol' Derek."

He chuckled as he took the money from his step-sister's hands. "You know you wouldn't want it any other way," he teased, winking at her as he got up from the table to join the lunch line.

"Probably not," he heard Casey murmur, most likely when she thought he was too far to hear. Derek beamed. Maybe he had a shot afte-rall.

…...

**A/N: **Sorry this took a bit longer than usual. Updates might be a bit slower now, but I'll try my hardest not to be too long. Today's actually my birthday, so it'd mean a lot to be if you'd review and let me know how you liked the chapter!

REVIEW REPLY:

No.1TWIFanpire: Thanks for reviewing!

CocoaCollidoscope: Haha, Harry Potter/ Life with Derek crossover would be really interesting. I can almost imagine Hermione and Casey battling it out for the top of the class. Lol. Thanks for reviewing!

Emily: Thanks for reviewing!

HoplesslyInLove13: Glad you liked the hockey bit. Thanks for reviewing!

VeVe2491: Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much and thank you for reviewing!

Laugh32: You saying you love my writing style means a lot, so thank you! And thank you for reviewing the story! :)

Hermanoteu: Thanks for reviewing!

PuckleberryDairs: Thanks for reviewing!

CatzzCK: Thanks for reviewing!

Harmonious Wolf: Thank for reviewing!

Georgina: Glad you are liking the progression of Dasey. I think to try to make it as realistic as possible wih the transitioning... Thanks for reviewing!

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Thanks for sharing so much of what liked in the last chapter. I enjoy hearing your response. :) Thanks for reviewing!

Othfan67: Love ya too! Lol. Thanks for reviewing!


	8. Chapter 8

When Derek came back to the table, lunch in hand, Emily had just arrived too – a fact that Casey was rather happy about, since that meant she wouldn't have to deal with either of them alone. With Emily, she knew her best friend was dying for more details about last night with Derek; she wouldn't dare bring that up in-front of him. With Derek, things were still just too awkward between them, even though that seemed to be more her fault rather than his; at least with Emily there they had a buffer.

"Thanks for paying, Case," Derek spoke with a grateful grin. He placed his lunch tray down on the table, but remained standing as he fished for something in his front jean pocket. Finally, he picked out a couple coins and crumpled dollar bills and placed them on her side of the table. "And there's the change," he pointed out, then sat down in the seat he occupied from earlier.

Casey looked at the money then at Derek appreciatively. "You're welcome, Derek," she managed. She was still feeling a tad shy around Derek, with last night so fresh and alive in her memory. Thinking about their proximity was enough to make her blush all over.

"You bought Derek lunch?" Emily questioned, quirking the right side of her mouth upwards, glimpsing knowingly at Casey.

"If I hadn't then I wouldn't have had lunch for myself," Casey replied.

Derek exaggeratedly scoffed. "Are you implying that I would have stolen your lunch?" Derek asked, feigning offense. "I mean, come on! We're being nice to each other now. I would have at least shared," he continued, smirking, "...some..."

Casey couldn't help it, she burst out laughing, which must have been contagious since both Emily and Derek joined in on the laughter soon after.

"What's got you all laughing, amigos?" Ralph wondered aloud, standing at the end of the table with Sam beside him.

"Nothing, man," Derek answered as his laughter subsided. "Sit down, guys," he insisted, motioning to the empty seats at the table. Both nodding, Ralph took the seat next to Derek, while Sam took the seat next to Emily.

Ralph and Derek seemed to immediately start talking about something sports related. Casey had quickly grown accustomed to this chatter since Derek and his friends began eating lunch with them. However, Casey raised her eyebrow in confusion when she didn't hear Sam's voice eventually join the discussion like usual. When Casey curiously looked over, Sam was instead speaking to Emily in hushed tones.

Sam must have felt eyes on him because promptly Casey's eyes were locked with Sam's. Casey gave him a mannerly smile to not feel so rude for staring. But instead of merely smiling back like she was expecting, Sam shot Casey an expression that reminded her of the faces Emily had been giving her all day – a knowing look with a dash of smugness.

"So, Casey, Derek told me how you're trying to learn hockey," Sam commented, smiling friendly towards her, but still looking at her like he knew something that she didn't even know. A shiver traveled down her spine at the thought.

Casey glanced over at Derek, who had just ripped himself from his conversation with Ralph at Sam's remark. He matched Casey's gaze for a short moment before setting a hard glare at Sam. For some reason Casey was starting to feel nauseous. She turned back to Sam, stuttering, "Y-yeah."

"Cool," Sam expressed lightly. "Knowing you, you'll pick up everything quick. Then you can kiss Derek goodbye!"

All she heard was 'kiss' and 'Derek'. Casey blanched. Sam couldn't possibly know anything, right? The queasy feeling in her stomach went up tenfold. She swiftly stood to her feet. "I'm not feeling so well. I think I'm just going to go to the nurse," she told her table as she gathered up her belongings.

Derek stood up too, looking at her concerned. "Let me come with you."

"No!" she hollered, then realized her outburst was a little uncalled for, so she lowered her voice, "No, don't worry. Just-just eat your lunch. I'll be fine."

Derek looked at her unconvincingly. "You sure?"

"Yes, Derek," she replied, turning on her heel to make her way to the exit before he could protest anymore.

…...

Casey really needed to stop freaking out so much. Particularly when the subjects of kissing and Derek intertwined. Again, she had taken a common expression so literally. She felt like such a fool. Sam obviously didn't mean she would actually kiss Derek goodbye, just like Derek didn't mean it when he said he could kiss her. At least, she thought so.

Casey heavily sighed. Thinking usually was her strong suit, but when things happened that lead her to over-think, she really wished she could shut off her brain – like now. Because even though she _thought_ Derek might have been close to kissing her last night, it doesn't mean that's what he was going to do – though she couldn't think of another explanation as to why he was looking at her like he was. Regardless, she shouldn't assume. And Derek seemed pretty nonchalant today, so obviously he wasn't worried about it – if there was an 'it' to be worried about.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the fact that Derek might have kissed her that was freaking her out, but the aspect that she didn't care if he did.

She gave it a lot of thought the previous night as she tossed and turned in her bed, sleep far from overcoming her. As she replayed his glimmering eyes staring right into her own, remembering the slight magnetic field they seemed to have attached to them, she started adding her own endings. Sometimes Casey would whisper Derek's name, so soft that I'd quickly evaporate from the room as soon as she spoke it, and Derek would shush her lightly before pecking her tentatively on the mouth. Other times she'd bulk up the courage to reach out and tangle her hand in his hair, feeling it's texture as her fingers rounded to the nape of his neck, and Derek would turn his head slightly to bring his smooth lips to her wrist, never breaking their eye-contact for a moment, which would drive Casey to grab Derek by his neck and bring him down to kiss her. And then sometimes she'd skip her usual romantic versions and rely purely on her hormones, where seemingly simultaneously they'd lunge at each other and his lips would just be on hers and hers would just be on his and hands would be gliding and tugging and feeling everything they could reach. Casey only realized right before she drifted off to sleep that she had kissed Derek in _every single scenario_.

Speed-walking past the nurse, Casey continued her trek down the hall until she reached Paul's office. She knocked frantically on Paul's door, fidgeting in place as she waited for an answer on the other side. However, impatient and panicked, she soon barged right in without proper acceptance.

Paul opened his mouth to greet the girl, but Casey was already speaking, very rapidly at that. "Just because you think something is going to happen doesn't mean it that is what was going to happen, right? Especially since the person it was going to happen with would never do _that_ with you! But what if they were, what does that mean? Does it even mean anything? Was I imagining it? No, no I couldn't have...But he didn't bring it up or seemed bothered, but -"

"Casey!" Paul hollered to break her out of seemingly endless rant. Casey instantly closed her mouth, embarrassed by her behavior.

Realizing he had Casey's attention now, Paul started. "Now, take a seat and breathe." Casey did as she was told. "Okay, now start over, but this time _slowly,_ and elaborate, please."

Nodding at Paul's further instructions, Casey took a deep breath before beginning."Just because you think something might have happened, doesn't mean it would have, right?" Casey questioned again.

Paul leaned his elbows on his desk as he interlaced his fingers together. "Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no," he answered thoughtfully. "What is this 'thing' that you thought might have happened?"

Casey looked down at her hands, which were politely laid in her lap now. She chewed her lip, trying to figure out how to describe the situation to Paul without going into too much detail, such as who else was involved...

"Last night I was...hanging out with this guy...and I thought he was going to kiss me – but that can't be possible!" Casey told, quickly interjecting her own sentence with her doubtful thoughts.

"And why can't that be possible?" Paul calmly asked.

Casey quietly groaned in frustration. "Because – because we don't like each other like that! He's constantly teasing me and making fun of me. I'd go as far to say we despise each other! "

"Are you sure about that?"

Casey rose her head to look at her counselor's face. "What do you mean?" she hesitantly asked.

"Well," Paul started, "if you really don't like each other, why were you hanging out with him to begin with? Or were you with a group of friends and he happened to be there?"

"No, we were alone," Casey murmured. "But it was just something that happened. I didn't plan on spending time with him last night. He was just there and..." Casey trailed off, not knowing what else to say – at least without giving away the fact that she was talking about Derek. Of course he was _there_. It was both their house for goodness sake.

"But again, if you despised each other as much as you claim..." he spoke, trailing off.

"Okay, so maybe we don't hate each other as much as we claim, but we definitely don't like each other enough to kiss!" Casey relented.

Paul hummed in thought as he gazed at Casey carefully. The silence, or rather the hum of Paul's computer and the ticking of the clock, were slowly pushing Casey to a point of explosion, nerving her further.

Finally, Paul opened his mouth to speak again. "Why do you think this boy – who you say doesn't like you this way in the slightest – kiss you then?"

"That's what I don't understand!" Casey exclaimed, throwing her hands up in defeat before burying her face in them. She was trying to will herself not to cry from all the distress. "We were just sitting next to each other, talking, when everything just seemed to go still and silent. He was looking at me very intensely and in the back of my mind, all I could think was that he was going to kiss me. But he didn't. Something got us distracted before anything could happen...if anything _was_ going to happen..."

Paul nodded his head, letting the new information from the situation sink in his head. "Usually our gut feelings are ring true..."

"But why would _he_ want to kiss _me_? I mean, sure, I've been acting nicer to him and he's been acting nicer to me lately, but that wouldn't warrant a kiss..." Casey thought aloud, rambling a bit.

"Why were you being nicer to him?" Paul curiously asked.

"My friend, Emily, told me I couldn't be nice to him, so we set up a challenge for me to do just that," Casey clarified for Paul. "I don't know why he's being nicer to me though. At first he was being nastier than usual, but then the next day, out of the blue, it was like he transformed into Mister Rogers..."

Paul fumbled over a chuckle at the Mister Rogers reference, but managed to keep his face somewhat neutral as he spoke next. "Maybe at first this boy only thought he could achieve your attention by doing negative things because you thought of him so negatively. But when you started acting nicer to him, he decided to start doing more positive things for you. Understand?"

Casey scrunched up her face, turning over the thought in her mind. "So, he's basically treating me how I treat him?"

"Might be," Paul answered with a shrug. "We should treat others as how we wished to be treated."

Casey nodded. That did make sense, however she was still perplexed. "But that still doesn't explain the almost-kiss," Casey pushed. She was determined to figure that factor out.

"Casey," Paul said, lightly but fixedly, "did you ever think that this boy might like you?" Casey's mouth opened to rebut, but Paul raised a hand to stop her as he continued to talk. "You said yourself that he teases you and makes fun of you, but those are perfect examples of what some boys do to the girls they like – It might be a bit elementary, but it's still something some individuals revert to."

Casey sat in a stupor. Could Derek possibly like her, like _really_ like her? The idea just didn't seem fathomable. Besides recently, especially last night, had Derek ever shown signs that he thought of her that way? That's when Casey started thinking back to a lot of the things he had done for her over the years, although she always seemed blind to them until now because of the stunt he either pulled before or after such incidents happened. But couldn't have he just been looking out for family?

"Casey?" Paul queried, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe," she softly whispered, finally answering Paul's last question to her. She was still very much doubtful, but now at least she had something to work off of when she saw Derek next.

Thinking their session for today was over, Casey began getting up from her seat.

"And what about you?" Paul suddenly asked.

Casey abruptly sat back down, floored by the question. "What about me?" she asked, though her voice sounded strangled, like she had a hard time forcing the words out.

"How do you feel about all of this? Do you like this boy?"

Casey immediately went to answer, but found that she was left speechless. Sure, she had been developing scenarios the previous night where she kissed Derek, but she never stopped to think _why_ she was. And she was so obsessed over why Derek might have kiss her in the first place, that she never thought to think why she would have let him if he did. _Did_ she like Derek?

"I-I don't know..." Casey let out. Her mind was reeling from the possible revelation. "I didn't think I did...but now...I can't just suddenly like someone so soon can I? Just a few days ago I thought he was an obnoxious pig, who I wouldn't want to share the same country with let alone a couch!"

Paul chuckled, but at Casey's pointed glare, the laugh was vacuumed right back up into his mouth. "Some people can develop feelings for others very quickly, while others take more time," he reasoned. "Or this could be something you have been subconsciously denying yourself and was only forced to realize it now because of the change in circumstances..."

Casey sighed dejectedly. She began to rub the temples of her head as a massive headache was brewing underneath from all these crazy projections.

She started reflecting back on fragments of memories that were blowing by her eyes, like autumn leaves in the wind. Surprisingly, most of these memories were good ones of Derek, rather than the ones that made her want to shove him in a box and ship him to Timbuktu. Casey soon realized that she found Derek to be quite endearing many times, especially around his Smarti; that he left in her awe too many times to count; that although he always swore off any affiliation with her, he was always right by her side, especially when she needed him the most. She thought back at certain glances and fights – that at the time she shrugged off as nothing – and now saw them in a whole new light.

But she couldn't possibly like Derek, right? And Derek couldn't like her? It was just too bizarre to think about. But maybe Emily's crazy accusations weren't so crazy after-all...

She refocused her dazed expression and looked at Paul. "I think we're good for today, Paul. Thanks for all the help," she told him appreciatively.

She got up from her seat and went back out into the hall. Just then the bell rang and a flood of students swamped the hallways, not that Casey noticed too much. Her mind was still figuratively in Paul's office, nitpicking through memories of her and Derek from the last couple years, trying to make sense of some of them with a new sense of insight.

Part of her was willing to accept that she might have a small crush on her step-brother, while the other part was claiming her a looney for even suggesting it. Her main concern, though, was if Derek actually liked her like that. Emily was hinting at it earlier this morning, and even Paul (even though he didn't know it was Derek she was talking about). But why would someone, like Derek, – who could have any girl in the school – be interest in her? His geeky, neurotic step-sister. It just didn't add up, even though there were loads of evidence to the contrary when she could think of them. The whole scenario seemed very paradoxical.

"You okay?" she heard a voice say behind her. She jumped at the unexpectedness of it, but when she saw it was Emily, Casey's smiled.

"Yeah," Casey spoke distractedly, walking along side her best friend as they strolled down the hallway to their lockers. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"Good, 'cause you had me worried there for a second," Emily expressed, stopping with her at Casey's locker and waiting for her as she obtained her next class' books. "So, I'm guessing you talked to Paul, since that was the door you came out of?"

"Yes," Casey answered as she stacked her materials for chemistry in her arms.

"What did you talk about?" Emily asked innocently.

Thinking back to Paul and her's conversation again, Casey couldn't help but glance over towards Derek's locker. He was there and he was already looking at her with an expression of worry. "You okay?" she then saw him mouth to her. She could only briefly nod to answer as her stomach erupted in butterflies at his concern.

"Or should I ask _who_?" Casey heard Emily say, a sense of knowing lacing over her words. Casey quickly ripped her eyes from Derek's form to turn to her friend in panic. She didn't want Emily to get the wrong idea. Sure, maybe what Emily was instigating earlier held some truths, but until Casey knew for sure about how she felt, and most importantly how Derek felt, she didn't want to encourage her.

Unfortunately, the drastic move caused her to clumsily drop all the books to the ground.

Casey groaned as she bent down to get the fallen books, mumbling miserably under her breathe. Klutzilla was already making an appearance. However, she stopped mid-way down when she realized Derek was standing in-front of her. She looked down at his hands to see her books stacked neatly on top of the other.

"Thanks, Derek," Casey said softly, reaching for the books, but Derek swatted her hands away playfully.

"Let me hold them and I'll walk you to class," he offered. Casey was surprised to see Derek displaying a shy smile, as if he was scared she'd turn down his proposition. The face only made him look like a cute puppy dog. Casey bit her lip, thinking that this was definitely something a guy would do for a girl he liked.

Casey then mentally shook herself out of her analyzing thoughts."I'd love that," she answered honestly, which earned her a beaming smile from Derek, as well as a small squeal from Emily in the distant background as they walked towards Casey's class.

* * *

**A/N:** Sooooo, sorry for keeping you guys waiting like this. I was having trouble with the second half of the story. I kept writing and rewriting everything. I'm still not 100 percent satisfied, but hopefully you guys will like it. So, in this chapter, Casey is still trying to figure out how she feels for Derek, as well as try to wrap her head around the possibility that Derek might like her. So, REVIEW! Tell me what you think!

*Also, I don't know what happened, but I had written back to all your review, but when I uploaded the chapter, they weren't there. So, next time I'll respond back again. I'm too lazy to write them all out now, but thanks to all that reviewed! :)


	9. Chapter 9

Derek pulled into the driveway, immediately turning the ignition off after he parked. It wasn't too late, but the sun was already down for the day, considering it was winter.

Derek continued to sit silently in the darkness of the Prince, letting his head lean back onto the headrest and his eyes flickered close. His body was aching all over, worse than the day before, and he didn't have the energy to get out just yet.

He decided to use this moment of calmness and tranquility to think the day over. Especially how Casey considerably warmed up to him within the span of the school day. Derek had thought he screwed up any budding friendship he was making with Casey because of his damn hormones. And he thought for sure that when Casey fled from the lunchroom after Sam's comment that everything was beyond repairable. Fortunately, however, Casey was able to get over whatever was bothering her. She was much more open and friendly towards him after lunch. He was very curious as to why, but he wasn't going to press it.

A prolonged yawn made its way through Derek's mouth. Derek felt tired enough to sleep right then and there, despite the location and chilly weather slowly snatching the heat from the car. A few days ago he would have let himself snooze for a few minutes, but tonight he couldn't. It was nearly seven o'clock and the hockey game he told Casey he was going to watch with her was going to be on soon. This was one of the very _very_ rare times that she would probably willingly spend time with him and he would be a fool to miss the opportunity.

With that in thought, Derek opened the car door and sluggishly stepped out into the crisp, Canadian air. The sudden gust of coldness that slapped up against him momentarily numbed his afflicted body and he let out a small sigh of relief.

His eyes then immediately glared at the trunk where his hockey bag and gear were, dreading the energy he would have to exert in order to retrieve it and lug it inside. Derek took a second to internally think about it, but eventually decided to abandon his possessions until the next day, so his muscles could relax and he could get out of the cold weather, and to see Casey quicker.

Opening up the house door, Derek was greeted by an empty living room. Though, the television was blaring pre-game talk, so someone had to be around. "Hello?" Derek called out to the house as he shut the front-door firmly behind him and hung up his leather jacket on the coat rack.

Casey stuck her head out of one of the kitchen doors, a broad smile spread nicely across her pretty face. Even from his distance Derek could see the glitter her lip-gloss left on her lips and the blissful sparkle flickering in her eyes. Derek's stomach clenched pleasantly at the sight. His mind vaguely thought of days in the far future that featured him coming home after work to a similar sight.

"Hey," she greeted softly, "I was just heating up some dinner for you..." she said, then disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, only to reappear seconds later with the aforementioned meal in her hand. Casey began walking towards Derek to hand him the plate and he started to walk towards her to retrieve it.

Derek got as far as his chair when he saw Casey's foot get caught underneath the dining room rug. She propelled forward, doomed to fall hazardously, but luckily Derek was able to grab her around the waist, thus avoiding any disastrous outcomes.

She fell heavily against Derek's chest, leaving him winded for a second, but glad that miraculously nothing was dropped, sprained or broken this time around. (Casey had somehow managed to maneuver the plate away from colliding with Derek or the ground.) Derek finally looked down at the girl in his arms and was left breathless as he realized their close vicinity. Their faces couldn't have been farther than a dozen centimeters apart.

"Sorry," Casey mumbled, her face flushing painfully red as she pulled herself away from his chest, dipping her head down to try and hide her embarrassment. Derek half wished he could tell her that her blush was adorable, but he felt that no matter how nice they were being to each other, that that particular action would be crossing a line he shouldn't cross, at least yet.

"No harm, no foul," Derek said when she was back on her own two feet. He wanted to keep his responses short and sweet for the moment. He didn't want to accidentally blurt out idiotic things like the night before. However, in his head, he was wondering, and foolishly hoping, that the whole incident was a sign of her potential crush on him rather than her usual clumsy tendencies.

Needing something to do to fill in the heavy silence that hung, he took the plate from Casey's hands and placed it on the coffee table. Turning back, he gave her a reassuring smile in an effort to further placate her. Casey grimaced, still too embarrassed, and hurriedly told him that she had to get more things in the kitchen. With that, she rapidly turned on her heel and sped-walked to the kitchen.

Once she was fully out of the room, Derek let out a needed breath of air as he collapsed on to the couch. Even though Casey had only been his arms for mere seconds, it was enough to entrench the embrace in his mind. He could still feel her one hand clutching onto his shirt desperately as she tried to regain her balance and her hair tickling lightly against the hollow of his neck. Derek couldn't shake the feeling off of him if he tried – not that he entirely wanted to, though.

Derek let out another deep breath. He had to remain calm and collected. He had to keep his hormones in check. Casey wasn't a regular girl – at least the girls he usually went for. He couldn't just pull one of his moves and speak sugarcoated words to her. If the past day taught Derek anything it was that he needed to have patience. So, essentially, he wasn't going to make a move unless Casey initiated something.

Tonight, Derek only wanted to spend a nice evening watching hockey and eating snacks with Casey. He wanted Casey to be comfortable, and try to avoid the awkwardness and drama that accompanied the night before. And if the night went as smoothly as he was anticipating, Casey would realize she liked being in his company. Maybe she would like it enough to spend more time with him, willingly – aside when she was learning sports from him or helping the other out of scraps.

"I popped some popcorn again," Casey spoke, breaking Derek from his thoughts. She placed the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table next to his dinner. "And drinks," she further spoke, untucking the drinks from the crook of her arm, then showcasing the soda can that was undoubtedly for him and the water for her.

Giving her a grateful smile, Derek took the soda can from her. Casey nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she smiled enjoyably back.

She opted to sit in the seat next to him on the couch, which caused Derek's eyebrows to shoot to his hairline in surprise. Not merely at the fact that she was sitting next to him, but the fact that they were sitting nearly as close as they were yesterday. He thought for sure Casey would be sitting as far as she could after what the proximity caused the night before, but he presumably guessed wrong.

Derek inwardly smiled, but quickly evened out any traces of jubilant glee to a neutral stance. He didn't want to think too much about it – to delusionally bring his hopes up. To distract himself, he reached for his food and began digging into his dinner.

"So who are the Leafs' opponent tonight?" Casey asked a few moments later as she stared at the screen, where two elderly broadcasters were still talking about key players and strategies.

Derek opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by someone bounding down the stairs and plopping into his recliner. "The Ottawa Senators!" the interloper answered for Derek.

"Thanks, Edwin," Casey said happily, flashing her younger step-brother an appreciative grin before turning back to the television.

Derek looked over at his brother with a belligerent glower. That smile was supposed to have been directed at _him_, not his little brother. "Yeah. _Thanks, Edwin_."

The younger boy cocked his head to the side, while letting a signature Venturi smirk play loosely on his face. "No, problem, _bro_."

Derek clenched his teeth. He further glared at his brother, but soon turned away, hoping that if he didn't give Edwin any attention that the kid would soon bug off.

"Are the Leafs still in the blue?" Casey asked as the teams stepped on the ice, warming up.

Again, just as Derek opened his mouth, Edwin answered instead. "Yup. Usually when a team is playing in their home city, they wear the same color jersey. The Maple Leafs wear that blue. When they are away at someone else's city, they usually wear white."

Derek watched Casey nod her head to Edwin's explanation in understatement, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the boy's response. She was too concentrated on the TV in-front of her, which Derek found quite comical, especially since the game hadn't even started yet. He quietly laughed into his fist, shaking his head at her way-too-keener but somehow utterly adorable idiosyncrasies.

"What's so amusing?" she gently asked, nudging her side into his lightly. She peeked at him over her shoulder, waiting for him to respond.

Derek let out a few more chuckles. "Nothing, nothing. You're just so serious though..."

Casey seemed to immediately straighten her back, stiffening. "I-I wasn't trying to – I was just – I just want to know about hockey so –"

Derek slapped his hand over Casey's mouth, causing her to immediately hush her inane stuttering. She looked up at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Don't stress over it! I'm not going to give you a pop quiz at the end of the game," Derek teased, his laughter resuming. Casey took Derek's hand and gently guided it away from her mouth, all the while rolling her eyes.

"You're doing a great job already," Derek told her earnestly. "You'll learn in time, but if you force it, you won't enjoy it, which will make learning it harder," he continued gently, squeezing her hand for further reassurance.

It was that unconscious notion that made Derek realize that Casey's hand never let go of his when she moved it earlier, and that it was still loosely in his own. He looked down hesitantly, wanting proof that the sensation wasn't an evil illusion. It wasn't. He swallowed nervously as he rose his head to meet eyes with his step-sister. Her eyes were bug-eyed, but they did not stray from his gaze, nor did she retract her hand and scream bloody murder.

"_Ahem!_"

Derek and Casey both whipped their heads towards where the sudden noise came from, unfastening their hands away from each other in the process.

"Sorry," Edwin sheepishly apologized when he noticed he gained the attention of the two older teenagers. "My throat is just a little hoarse..."

"Then why don't you get yourself something to drink in the kitchen," Derek suggested through gritted teeth. Admittedly, Derek had forgotten Edwin was still there, but now that he was reminded, he wanted him out.

"Nahh," Edwin dismissed, waving his hand at the idea. "I think I'm fine."

Derek lightly groaned. "Don't you have homework to do or something?" Derek asked, his annoyance reaching to the point that it dipped deeply into his words.

"Nope!" the younger kid replied simply, smiling cheekily.

The older Venturi was fed up. Derek was never going to be able to enjoy this night if Edwin was interrupting everything. Grabbing his empty dinner plate, Derek stood up from his seat.

Casey immediately began to ask where Derek was going, but he promptly intercepted it. "I'll be _right_ back," Derek assured Casey, gesturing to the dirty dish in his hand. Casey swallowed down the rest of her sentence and gave him an encouraging smile – probably because it looked like he was being responsible for once.

Derek slowly rounded the couch, waiting for Casey to focus her attention back to the game. When she did, Derek quickly snatched at Edwin's shirt collar and lugged the lanky boy with him into the kitchen.

"Yoww!" Edwin exclaimed, once they both were safely in the perimeters of the kitchen. "That was kinda my neck! The only one I have!"

"Yeah, well if you don't want it snapped in half, you better cut it out!" Derek harshly whispered, trying to keep this conversation as low key as possible, especially since he wasn't certain what ears could be listening or not.

Edwin smiled smugly. "Cut _what_ out?"

Derek sighed. "Just leave me and Casey alone. I'm trying to teach her hockey." To give himself a distraction, he then walked over to the sink to place his plate into it.

"But two heads are better than one," Edwin pointed out.

Derek turned around, leaning his back against the counter. He crossed his arms and glared at his brother. "Did she ask _you_ to teach her hockey? No. She asked me. She doesn't want your help. Plus, I've been the one playing since I was 3. You? You know everything from what _I_ taught you."

Ignoring everything Derek just said, Edwin's eyes lightened up in such a mischievous fashion that it made Derek's blood want to both boil in wrath and freeze in fright.

"Ooh, I get it," Edwin knowingly spoke, his tone tottering towards teasing. "You just want some..._alone_ time." And then the boy had the audacity to wink at his older brother.

Derek shifted slightly, but hardened his glare at his brother. "_Edwin_," he breathed out warningly.

"50 bucks," Edwin said, holding out a hand towards Derek. The older of the two only cast the younger a look of confusion. "Give me 50 bucks and I'll get out of your hair," Edwin clarified.

"No way!" Derek scoffed, pushing his brother's hand down. "Why should _I_ pay _you_ anything?"

"Maybe because I could easily tell Casey that you're _in love_ with her..."

"I'm not!" Derek insisted, taking a threatening step closer to Edwin.

Although Edwin stepped back to put space in-between his brother and himself, he seemed unfazed by Derek's tone and stature. This was something that left Derek perplexed, since this was usually when Edwin would start graveling in fear, begging for forgiveness. However, the boy looked too amused with the situation to be doing that now.

"Just give me money and I'll leave," Edwin promised. "And I won't tell Casey anything that may or may not be true..."

"It's not true," Derek glumly spoke, but nevertheless reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

"Nice doing business with you,"Edwin rejoiced, gladly snatching the money from his brother's wallet and darting to the back door. "By the way, you should blush more often, it gives you a nice glow," he taunted, before sprinting out of the house.

"EDWIN!" Derek hollered, his feet subconsciously running to the door in pursuit of Edwin. Though when he peered outside and couldn't even see a spec of Edwin anywhere, Derek figured the chase was useless. The brat was probably hiding out somewhere that would take Derek ages to find anyway. Also, he didn't want Casey to wait any longer.

Blowing out a breath of air in order to relieve a bit of his Edwin-related stress, Derek sauntered back into the living room and sat back down in his seat.

"Everything okay?" Casey questioned immediately as Derek took his seat. She must of heard some of the commotion.

"Perfect," he clipped. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, hoping his action would deter Casey from asking anything more.

It didn't.

"Where's Edwin?" she then asked, craning her neck to look back at the kitchen area.

"He went outside," Derek answered. "Actually he went for a run..." An involuntary grin plastered across his face, but he knew enough to keep his laughter at bay. Casey shot him an odd look, but Derek only shrugged it off. "All I know is that he isn't in the house anymore." And that was all that Derek cared about. His 50 bucks better be well spent.

"So," Derek abruptly began, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "You have any hockey questions?"

…...

"That was slashing!" Casey hollered at the TV, but turned sharply to Derek. "Wasn't it?" she asked uncertainly.

Derek chuckled at the whiplash actions. "You're right," he assured her, nodding his head approvingly, clearly impressed with how fast she was learning everything.

She pouted confusingly. "Then why didn't they call a penalty?" she asked grimly.

The question was muffled to Derek's ears though as his eyes were focused in on her puckered bottom lip. Ooh, the things she did to him without even trying.

Noticing Derek's lack of feedback, she turned her head to face her step-brother. The sudden movement, broke Derek out of his daze and his eyes quickly diverted from her lips to the top portion of her face. "Did you...ask something?" he wondered sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Casey opened her mouth, ready to say something, but at the last minute stopped herself. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "Um...the slashing. Why didn't they call a penalty?"

"Oh, I'm guessing the referees didn't see it."

"But there's," Casey began, but paused to turn back to the TV. Derek could hear her briefly counting. "There's four referees! And none of them saw it?!"

"Well technically there's two referees. The other two, with the orange arm bands," Derek said, trying to point out one for Casey on the screen, "those guys are called linesmen. They generally only call the icing and offsides calls, or break up a fight. Stuff like that. But either way, no one sees a penalty, the penalty doesn't get called," Derek finished, shrugging.

Casey huffed as she sat back against the couch, crossing her arms. "Barbaric," she mumbled, her face turned down into a frown.

Derek rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile fondly at her actions. He nudged her with his shoulder. "There's no pouting during hockey," he commanded playfully, poking her side until her lips twitched into a faint smile.

Satisfied, Derek turned his attention back to the game. They watched in a comfortable silence.

* * *

**A/N:** So, yeah...HEY! I'm still writing this. Sorry this chapter took forever. I was moving and then school started a couple weeks ago...Hopefully you're all still with me. Reviews and comments would be lovely to read!

**REVIEW REPLY:**

Erksum, Jazzylarirena, wprincessannw, DC2012, SweetCake773, xxLiveLoveReadxx, AMUTOforever305, Dark-Supernatural-Angel, CatzzCk, and Jack Frost love cadi93: Thanks for reviewing!

BATMAN: Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy my writing. It means a lot! :) Thanks for reviewing too!

Kopitar: Yes, I love hockey, so to actually be able to write about it is great. Lol! Hopefully this chapter was good for you hockey wise. Next chapter will also have some hockey too. :) Thanks for reviewing and glad you like the story so far.

AllThereIs: Sorry I took so long! Thanks for reviewing though.

Guest: Now that school is in session and such, I don't know how often I'll be able to update. I'm never on a strict schedule anyway, so it's always up in the air. =/

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Hermanoteu: I always liked putting the step-sibling issue as a minor issue. Maybe because I see it as a minor issue. Dunno. Glad you like that though. Thanks for reviewing!

VeVe2491: I love fluffiness so much myself. Lol. I can't help it, especially when it comes to Dasey. Thanks for reviewing!

Othfan67: I updated! hehehe. Thanks for reviewing!


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